Smart pill box can help with TB treatment, but it’s not for everyone
Tuberculosis (TB) can be cured, but completing TB treatment can sometimes be difficult. Treatment for drug-susceptible forms of TB takes six months and some of the medicines have side effects. Treatment of drug-resistant TB typically takes more than six months and the risk of side effects is substantially higher.
There are several reasons why someone might stop taking treatment or skip doses. In some cases, the side effects may be so severe that people decide to stop taking the medicines. In other cases, people may feel healthy after just a few weeks of treatment and find it hard to stay motivated to keep taking medicines for the remainder of the six months treatment course.
One way in which people with TB can be supported is with what is called Digital Adherence Technologies, or DAT. As explained by Nontobeko Mokone, study coordinator at the Aurum Institute (an NGO), there are different types of DAT, including smart pill boxes, video support, and 99DOTS.
A World Health Organization (WHO) Handbook for the use of digital technologies to support TB treatment and adherence states that adherence support technologies should be part of an integrated approach complementing the delivery of quality care. Although the WHO recommends the use of DAT for TB treatment, they also state that more studies and evaluations on the feasibility and utility of DATs in programmatic realities are needed.
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