One of the key elements of successful tuberculosis (TB) control programs is adherence to treatment, and this is a cornerstone of most international and national policies and guidelines. Non-adherence is often due to patient-related factors, but can also be a result of provider issues, such as stock-outs of TB medicines. Non-adherence results in increases in length and severity of illness, deaths, disease transmission, and drug resistance. These have economic consequences in terms of costs and loss of income for patients and their families and also costs to the health system.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) Program, implemented by Management Sciences for Health, has launched a new, web-based pharmacovigilance management system called PViMS. PViMS enables health programs in low- and middle-income countries to follow recent World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations for implementing active drug safety monitoring and management (aDSM) when introducing new tuberculosis (TB) drugs and novel regimens.

In Pakistan, the private sector caters to about 70% of the primary health care needs of the population, though has historically not been engaged in tuberculosis (TB) control or preventive activities. To engage the retail pharmacies in TB control, the National TB program (NTP) partnered with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) Program to pilot an intervention targeting the retail pharmaceutical sector in TB management with the intention of increasing early TB case detection.