Stop TB Working Group on MDR-TB - Home

In 1999, WHO established the Working Group on DOTS-Plus for MDR-TB (Multidrug-Resistant TB). The Working Group was renamed in May 2006 to the Stop TB Working Group on MDR-TB.

Five meetings of the Working Group have been conducted since 1999 in Peru (2001), Estonia (2002), France (2003 and 2005) and USA (2006). More than 500 people have been attending these meetings and are contributing to the work of the Working Group representing countries, bilateral and multilateral agencies, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, community representatives, pharmaceutical industries and universities.

Main achievements over the last few years in MDR-TB surveillance and control include:

• WHO and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases are coordinating a network that has surveyed drug resistant TB in almost 100 countries worldwide
• A Supranational TB Reference Laboratory Network, consisting of 25 laboratories worldwide, has been established for global improvement in surveillance and control of MDR-TB
• The Green Light Committee (GLC) mechanism has been established as a multi-institutional partnership to promote access to life-saving high-quality second-line drugs at reduced prices for the treatment of MDR-TB and under rigorous monitoring to prevent the creation of resistance to second-line drugs, the last line of defence against TB. By November 2006, 51 projects in 40 countries had been approved by the GLC for the treatment of 24,994 MDR-TB patients
• Compelling evidence on feasibility, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of MDR-TB management under programmatic conditions and in resource-limited settings have been published by members of the Working Group
• Guidelines on MDR-TB surveillance and for the programmatic management of drug resistant TB have been developed
• Regional and country training workshops on MDR-TB management have been conducted by several partners and an increasing number of consultants have been trained
• Technical assistance for sound implementation of MDR-TB control practices has been provided to a significant number of countries including the high MDR-TB burden countries China, India and the countries of the former Soviet Union
• A project to pre-qualify second-line drug manufacturers and their products and to develop a list of quality-assured drugs is conducted by WHO
• A 10-year strategic plan of the Working Group has been developed which forms part of the Global Plan to Stop TB, 2006-2015
• Management of MDR-TB is part of the new Strategy to Stop TB and the International Standards of TB Care