DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment Strategy) project in Mongolia, 1995.
OBJECTIVE
To establish a tuberculosis (TB) control programme consistent with recommendations made by the WHO and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD) in a country where, as in control programmes of the former USSR, TB management previously relied on active case-finding with radiology and long-term monitoring and treatment of patients.


METHODS
A pilot DOTS strategy (directly observed treatment, short course) project was implemented in Dornod Aimak, Eastern Mongolia During a 6-week period, individuals with chronic cough of > or =3 weeks were screened with sputum smear microscopy. Smear-positive patients received a supervised 6-month regimen (2SRHZ/4RH). Outcome was assessed with smear examination 2, 5, and 6 months after the initiation of treatment.


RESULTS
Screening of 1241 symptomatic individuals identified 169 smear-positive TB cases (14%). Most of them (92%) were cured as demonstrated by documented sputum conversion. Five patients completed treatment, but were not available for follow-up smear examination, four patients died and four defaulted.


CONCLUSIONS
The DOTS strategy was successfully introduced in a former socialist model country, paving the way to national DOTS implementation in Mongolia. It may serve as an example for countries with a health care tradition similar to that of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Tsogt
G
G
National Center for TB, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Levy
M
M
Sudre
P
P
Norval
P Y
PY
Spinaci
S
S
D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration; D008986:Mongolia; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014944:World Health Organization
D000995:Antitubercular Agents