Citizen News Service (CNS), with support from the Lilly MDR-TB Partnership, recently released a report examining how drug-resistant tuberculosis in India is managed. The report covers lessons learned from selected sites in six cities across the country, and makes recommendations for improvements.

CNS embarked on a mission to document the best conventions and lessons learnt from select sites of Programmatic Management of Drug-resistant Tuberculosis (PMDT). The survey included nearly 200 key informant interviews, cured patients of multi-drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), MDR-TB patients currently on treatment and their family members, extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) patients, nurses, doctors, laboratory technicians, microbiologists, PMDT site nodal officers, state and district TB officers to analyze and conclude the major factors in practice that could bring about a Universal access to quality diagnostics and treatment programs for PMDT across India.

This report was generated to address MDR-TB's disease burden in India. The report is based on a survey and detailed research undertaken to find the major practices involved in educating, treating, managing and improving the overall situation of PMDT in various regions of India. The various practices and methodologies, practiced by several medical institutions were observed, highlighted and questioned by CNS during January-June 2013.