Interactive booklet and pillboxes improve DR-TB treatment adherence
The treatment of Drug- Resistant TB (DR-TB) treatment has rapidly evolved over the last five years with the first new oral DR-TB drug, Bedaquiline, being introduced into the NDOH DR-TB programme in 2017. Following the successful introduction of Bedaquiline into a nine-month all-oral regimen, all treatments for DR-TB in South Africa were transitioned into injection (Kanamycin)- free regimens in 2018. Despite these advances, the treatment regimens for DR-TB remain complex, with patients requiring seven different drugs (up to 17 tablets daily) on the nine-month short regimen; and at least five different drugs (up to 12 tablets daily) on the 18-month long [...]