Meeting the challenge of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis: summary of a conference.

On January 22-23, 1992, a conference on "Meeting the Challenge of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis" (MDR-TB) was held at the Centers for Disease Control, with greater than 400 attendees. Plenary presentations summarized the nature and magnitude of the problem, and work groups were formed to address six issues: public health, epidemiology and surveillance, infection control and environment, laboratory diagnosis and research, therapy, and training and education. Participants concluded that existing tools for diagnosis, patient management, and infection control must be more thoroughly implemented and that research to develop new approaches to diagnosis and therapy is critically needed. Discussions at the conference provided information that has been used to develop the National Action Plan to Combat Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis.