What is it about?
Drug-resistant tuberculosis traditionally requires long and resource-intensive treatment. In this study, we used real-world programmatic data from Belarus to compare the health outcomes and costs of shorter, all-oral treatment regimens with standard treatment lasting 18 months or longer. We also assessed the potential budget impact of expanding the use of shorter regimens within the national TB programme.
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Why is it important?
Shorter, all-oral regimens can reduce the burden of treatment for people with drug-resistant tuberculosis while also making better use of limited health-care resources. Our findings show that these regimens can improve health outcomes and substantially reduce treatment costs. At programme level, their wider implementation could free resources for other priorities in tuberculosis care.
Perspectives
One of the strengths of this study is its use of detailed real-world data from routine tuberculosis care in Belarus. For me, an important aspect of this work is that it connects clinical outcomes with the economic and programmatic implications of introducing shorter treatment regimens. I hope these findings can support evidence-informed decisions on the implementation and scale-up of shorter, all-oral treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis.
Natalia Yatskevich
Research Scientific and Practical Center for Pulmonology and Tuberculosis, Minsk, Belarus
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Cost-effectiveness of BPaL-based and 9-month modified all-oral short treatment regimens for rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis in Belarus, PLOS Global Public Health, July 2026, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0005872.
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