BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is still the leading cause of death worldwide accounting for 2.5% of the global burden of disease and 25% of all avoidable deaths in developing countries. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of the Directly Observed Treatment-Short course (DOTS) programme in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 1998-2007. METHODS: Institutional-based retrospective study was employed Reports using world health organization (WHO) format for TB case finding and treatment outcome from all Sub-cities of the city to the Federal Ministry of Health were collected RESULTS: Between the years (1998-2007), 133,340 patients with all form of TB were registered. Of these, 40,929 (31%) were AFB + ve Pulmonary TB (PTB+ve), 48,491 (36%) were AFB-ve Pulmonary TB (PTB-ve), and 43,920 (33%) were Extra Pulmonary TB (EPTB) cases. The trend of case detection rate (CDR) for new smear positive pulmonary TB cases has increased from 73% in 1998 to its peak 113% in 2000 and then it decreased to 68% in 2007. The treatment success rate (TSR) has value with an average and standard deviation of 80% and 3.2, respectively from 1999 to 2007. CONCLUSION: It is possible to achieve the recommended WHO target (70% CDR & 85% TSR) as can be seen how closely these targets were approached (68% & 81%, respectively) in the city in 2007; However, this requires seeking alternative case finding mechanisms.
BACKGROUND:Tuberculosis (TB) is still the leading cause of death worldwide accounting for 2.5% of the global burden of disease and 25% of all avoidable deaths in developing countries. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of the Directly Observed Treatment-Short course (DOTS) programme in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 1998-2007. METHODS: Institutional-based retrospective study was employed Reports using world health organization (WHO) format for TB case finding and treatment outcome from all Sub-cities of the city to the Federal Ministry of Health were collected RESULTS: Between the years (1998-2007), 133,340 patients with all form of TB were registered. Of these, 40,929 (31%) were AFB + ve Pulmonary TB (PTB+ve), 48,491 (36%) were AFB-ve Pulmonary TB (PTB-ve), and 43,920 (33%) were Extra Pulmonary TB (EPTB) cases. The trend of case detection rate (CDR) for new smear positive pulmonary TB cases has increased from 73% in 1998 to its peak 113% in 2000 and then it decreased to 68% in 2007. The treatment success rate (TSR) has value with an average and standard deviation of 80% and 3.2, respectively from 1999 to 2007. CONCLUSION: It is possible to achieve the recommended WHO target (70% CDR & 85% TSR) as can be seen how closely these targets were approached (68% & 81%, respectively) in the city in 2007; However, this requires seeking alternative case finding mechanisms.