The Thirteenth Meeting of the South-East Asia Regional MDR-TB Advisory Committee (‎SEA RGLC)‎

Overview

The WHO South-East Asia Region (SEAR) accounts for an estimated 171 000 rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (RR-TB) and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) cases emerging each year (WHO Global TB Report 2020). There has been a steady improvement in screening and enrolment of drug- resistant TB (DR-TB) patients with 70 120 RR-/MDR-TB enrolled on treatment in 2019. However, a slight decline in extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) enrolment to 2 008 patients was seen in the same year. The treatment success rate for RR-/MDR-TB patients remained at 52%, similar to earlier cohorts, and the treatment success for XDR-TB patients was only 37%.