A survey on the referral of tuberculosis patients at the National Tuberculosis Institute, Yemen.

The study aims to determine whether the tuberculosis (TB) patients referred from the National Tuberculosis Institute (NTI), Sana'a City, actually present themselves, are registered and initiate treatment at the health facilities to which they are referred. In 2004, 591 smear-positive TB cases were diagnosed, 481 cases were referred back to health centres, 75 cases were registered at the NTI and 35 cases could not be retrieved. Among the 481 referred cases, 427 cases actually presented themselves and were registered at the health centres (88.8%). The average number of days between the day of referral and that of registration was 2.5 days (median 1 day).