Community Care Model Improves Uptake of TB Preventive Therapy

The uptake and continuation of tuberculosis preventive therapy were much higher when it was provided through a community-based model compared to the standard clinic-based model, a study conducted in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa has found.

Among others, TB preventive therapy is recommended for people living with HIV in South Africa, a group at an increased risk of developing TB. The most common form of TB prevention therapy used in South Africa is an isoniazid pill taken for six or more months. A shorter three-month regimen (called 3HP) consisting of the drugs rifapentine and isoniazid is being piloted in some districts.

Adrienne Shapiro, an infectious disease specialist, epidemiologist, and assistant professor at the University of Washington, who co-authored the new study, says the uptake of TB preventive therapy in South Africa is suboptimal and lists several reasons for this, including TB prevention medication not being available at the clinics when patients come to initiate HIV treatment as well as complicated guidelines for initiation that change regularly.