National action plan to combat multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.

At no time in recent history has tuberculosis (TB) been as great a concern as it is today. TB cases are on the increase, and the most serious aspect of the problem is the recent occurrence of outbreaks of multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB, which pose an urgent public health problem and require rapid intervention. A Task Force composed of representatives of many federal agencies has developed a National Action Plan for addressing this problem. The Task Force identified a number of objectives to be met if MDR-TB is to be successfully combatted. These objectives fall under the categories of a) surveillance and epidemiology--determining the magnitude and nature of the problem; b) laboratory diagnosis--improving the rapidity, sensitivity, and reliability of diagnostic methods for MDR-TB; c) patient management--effectively managing patients who have MDR-TB and preventing patients with drug-susceptible TB from developing drug-resistant disease; d) screening and preventive therapy--identifying persons who are infected with or at risk of developing MDR-TB and preventing them from developing clinically active TB; e) infection control--minimizing the risk of transmission of MDR-TB to patients, workers, and others in institutional settings; f) outbreak control; g) program evaluation--ensuring that TB programs are effective in managing patients and preventing MDR-TB; h) information dissemination/training and education; and i) research to provide new, more effective tools with which to combat MDR-TB. The Action Plan lays out a series of activities to be undertaken at the national level. For each category, the Plan presents statements of problems to be overcome, followed by a summary of the objective to be achieved and steps to be carried out. For each implementation step, responsibility is assigned to the appropriate organization and start-up dates are listed.