Treatment outcome results of 84,232 new and relapse TB cases notified in the country in 2020 is available which give a plausible proportion of case holding to 99.7%. The high level of case holding is mainly contributed by the use of case-based electronic system the DHIS2-ETL, realized community involvement in the management of TB patients leading to early case detection and good treatment adherence.
The overall treatment success rate among new and relapse TB cases notified in 2020 was 96%. The remaining 4% came from unfavorable treatment outcome of 2,772 or 3.3% died during treatment, 779 or 0.92% lost to follow up and the remaining 69 (0.08%) cases failed treatment.
Further analysis of treatment success rates revealed that all regions except Tabora attained the 90% target. Nine regions of Dodoma, Tanga, Kagera, Shinyanga, Mtwara, Mbeya, Ruvuma, Mara and Geita have treatment success rate above national average of 96%. Figure 8 shows treatment success rate by region.
Treatment success rate of TB cases notified 2020 by region
Treatment success rate of TB cases notified 2020 by age group
Previous treated TB cases (except relapse) notified in 2020
Out of the 766 previously treated TB cases notified in 2020, a total of 765 patients were evaluated to assess their treatment outcome giving case holding of 99.9%. Among those evaluated, 690 (90%) were either cured or completed treatment resulting in treatment success rate of 90%, which was higher than that of 2019 when treatment success rate among re-treatment cases was 89%. The continuing increase of treatment success among this group implies that, most previously treated TB cases are still sensitive to first line drugs used for treating new TB patients in the country. The unfavorable outcomes were as follows: - death - 35 (4.6%); failures – 2 (0.26%) and lost to follow up –38 (4.9%). Figure 9 below summarizes treatment outcome for each category of the re-treatment cases.
Treatment success rate of previously treated TB cases notified 2020
Extra effort is required for lost to follow ups to institute a reliable DOT for the most favourable outcomes. A need for thorough assessment of each individual case and linking them to mental health and social support services would be of importance.
