Lancet Series on how to eliminate tuberculosis

The Lancet Series on how to eliminate tuberculosis is a response to the fact that business as usual can no longer be an option in the fight against tuberculosis. Four Series papers address changes in the current strategy that will be necessary to achieve zero deaths from tuberculosis, and to reach 2050 elimination targets in high-burden settings.

December 5, 2015 - The Lancet Series on how to eliminate tuberculosis is a response to the fact that business as usual can no longer be an option in the fight against tuberculosis.

This latest Lancet Series is led by Salmaan Keshavjee, from Harvard Medical School's Department of Global Health and Social Medicine. He helped bring together researchers and advocates to answer an urgent question: how do we translate existing knowledge, strategies, and approaches into effective programmatic interventions in the communities most afflicted by tuberculosis? His group decided on a goal — to work towards achieving zero deaths from tuberculosis, and to create a scientifically based roadmap outlining the steps that would need to be taken to reach this goal.

Four Series papers describe the scientific underpinnings of this roadmap and address changes in the current strategy that will be necessary to achieve zero deaths from tuberculosis, and to reach 2050 elimination targets in high-burden settings. The authors repackage current interventions into a comprehensive epidemic-control strategy that consists of targeting local hotspots of transmission, active case-finding, initiating the correct therapy promptly, and preventing future transmission by treating high-risk individuals and contacts of affected individuals.