Recently, a published study described four patients from India with resistance to all tested drugs for tuberculosis (TB). WHO defines the cases of drug-resistant TB in India as extensively-drug resistant TB or XDR-TB, as reliable tests to confirm total resistance to some TB drugs are not available. These serious cases raise the alarm for better managed TB care and treatment, particularly in the private sector. Severe resistance to available medicines occurs when below-standard care and treatment by health providers is allowed to go unchecked. WHO is working closely with the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to provide accurate diagnostic and treatment advice to those affected and to strengthen the surveillance system.
))