Key messages
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An estimated 9 million people develop active tuberculosis and 1·5 million people die of it each year
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Multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis continue to spread relentlessly, and treatment outcomes are still poor
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More effective treatment regimens are needed to reduce the burden of infectious cases
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Trials have shown that fluoroquinolone-containing regimens (moxifloxacin and gatifloxacin) do not shorten the present 6-month duration of therapy
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Apart from two new drugs rapidly approved under licence (bedaquiline and delamanid) for use in MDR disease, the new tuberculosis drug pipeline remains sparse
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Scale-up of existing interventions and improving tuberculosis health services is still the best option to manage and control the unacceptable status quo of tuberculosis and the growing problem of drug-resistant disease
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WHO global guidelines and recommendations are important and provide evidence-based principles of tuberculosis care in the public and private sectors worldwide, to ensure that an accurate diagnosis is established and proven acceptable treatment regimens are used under supervision
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With dwindling drug treatment options, the need to explore other adjunct treatment options, including host-directed therapies is growing