TB Prevention | Epidemic TB in the Global Community

On a small scale, TB is prevented by normal precautions like the ones shown in this Centers for Disease Control (CDC) TB prevention poster. TB patients can be taught to cough into cupped hands, and health care personnel can wear tight-fitting masks.

In 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a six-point Stop TB Strategy:

Expand the TB-DOTS (Tuberculosis Directly Observed Short-course) program. The TB-DOTS program outlines a five-component approach to controlling TB:

Make a political and financial commitment to TB control
Diagnose TB with sputum-smear microscopy
Observe treatment of TB (to prevent more MDR-TB from developing when people do not take their medicine for long enough periods of time)
Maintain adequate supplies of anti-TB medicines
Standardize recording and reporting of TB

Address the problems of people with HIV and TB, those with MDR-TB, and those who are poor and vulnerable.
Strengthen primary care of people so that TB is detected earlier and patients have adequate knowledge. In this photo, a former gold miner in South Africa waits to receive treatment for TB at Mnceba Clinic. This clinic sees many patients with TB and provides free treatment.

Make sure that all health care providers have adequate knowledge of TB.
Empower people who have TB with knowledge and information. In this photo, women at a tailoring workshop in India listen to an educational presentation on TB by members of Lok Seva Sangam, a local NGO that works on TB issues.
Enable and promote TB research.