Practical Approach to Lung Health (‎PAL)‎ : a primary health care strategy for the integrated management of respiratory conditions in people five years of age and over

Overview

The objectives of the DOTS strategy to control tuberculosis (TB), as adopted by the World Health Assembly and endorsed by the Stop TB Partnership, are to cure at least 85% of the sputum smear-positive TB cases put on anti-TB treatment and to detect at least 70% of the estimated new sputum smear-positive TB cases worldwide. These objectives are a prerequisite to halve TB prevalence and deaths from TB in order to halt and begin to reverse the incidence of TB by 2015, as formulated in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

Since the inception of the DOTS strategy, the cure rate among TB patients put on treatment has increased significantly in many countries. In 2002, this rate reached 82% in those areas where DOTS had been implemented. However, the global average detection rate remains well below the established target of 70%; indeed, in 2003 only 45% of all estimated smear-positive TB cases were identified under DOTS conditions.