DOT Strategy
To help improve TB detection and treatment rates in South Africa, TBFREE is promoting and advocating the use of the DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment, Short Course) strategy.
DOTS has been identified as one of the most cost effective health strategies available for the treatment of tuberculosis.
The TBFREE project is actively working to support and expand a medical infrastructure that will enable every patient diagnosed with TB in South Africa to have a competently trained healthcare worker supporting them to comply with their treatment by applying DOTS consistently.
TBFREE is supporting the TB strategy of the South African government and working in alignment with the national and provincial Departments of Health to stop the spread of TB in South Africa.
International organizations and experts agree that in the management of tuberculosis, patient outcomes with directly observed treatment (DOT) are better than those with self-administration.
According to the American Medical Journal of Respiratory and Clinical Care Medicine, patients treated using DOT had significantly higher cure rates (97.8 %) than those administering treatment themselves.
The finding also suggests that a patient’s best chance of being cured of TB is when treatment is in conjunction with DOT support and linked to a clinic.
Why DOTS?
- It produces cure rates of up to 95% even in the poorest countries
- It prevents new infections by curing infectious patients
- It prevents the development of drug resistance by ensuring that the full course of treatment is followed
- A six-month supply of treatment under DOTS strategy costs as little as US $ 10 per patient in some parts of the world
- The World Bank has ranked the DOTS strategy as one of the “most cost effective” of all health interventions.
