Global Financing and Long-Term Technical Assistance for Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis: Scaling Up Access to Treatment

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (mdr-tb) is a leading public health concern,particularly in low- and middle-income countries,necessitating coordinated international action to prevent its spread and effectively treat the infected.the cost of treatment for mdr-tb is over 200 times the comparable cost for a drug-susceptible tuberculosis (tb) patient. data show that prices for three of the currently most expensive drugs have increased dramatically since 2001,outpacing inflation.many of the high mdr-tb burden countries were ranked by who as being in the bottom 50% of health systems worldwide. without sufficient technical,human,and organizational resources,weak health systems can pose a significant barrier to access to treatment.in order to achieve the goal of eradicating mdr-tb,policymakers should implement a two-pronged intervention that pools donor resources for the coupling of market-oriented solutions to mdr-tb drug prices and targeted investments in health systems strengthening and innovative care delivery models. innovative policy mechanisms piloted for other infectious diseases,such as pneumococcal vaccine,may offer lessons for the mdr-tb context. © 2014 hwang,keshavjee.