Tuberculosis services and treatment outcomes in private and public health care facilities in Thailand, 2004-2006.

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization recommends that national tuberculosis (TB) programs encourage public and private providers to follow the 'International standards for tuberculosis care'. We assessed services and treatment outcomes in TB patients in public and private facilities to inform public-private mix scale-up in Thailand. METHODS: We prospectively collected data on TB patients in four provinces and the national infectious diseases hospital during 2004-2006. We analyzed services and outcomes among new pulmonary TB patients according to facility type. RESULTS: Of 7526 patients, 4539 (60%) were treated in small public facilities, 2275 (30%) in large public facilities and 712 (10%) in private facilities. Compared with the private sector, more public sector patients had at least two sputum smears examined, were prescribed a standard anti-tuberculosis regimen and received directly observed therapy; however, public sector facilities also performed suboptimally. Treatment outcomes were unsuccessful for 237 (33%) patients in private facilities, and for respectively 1018 (23%) and 655 (29%) patients in small and large public facilities. CONCLUSIONS: TB diagnostic and treatment services and outcomes should be enhanced in both public and private facilities in Thailand. Initiatives are needed to improve treatment outcomes and increase the use of microscopy, standardized TB regimens, and directly observed therapy in the public and private sectors.

Monitoring the performance of mycobacteriology laboratories: a proposal for standardized indicators.

SETTING: Thailand Tuberculosis (TB) Active Surveillance Network: Bangkok, Chiang Rai, Phuket, Tak and Ubon-Ratchathani, Thailand. BACKGROUND: Mycobacteriology laboratories in resource-limited, high TB burden settings are expanding to perform conventional solid media culture and broth-based mycobacteriology culture. Indicators that measure how well a laboratory performs sputum microscopy have been developed and broadly implemented. Routine monitoring of sputum culture performance, however, is not as common. DESIGN: We implemented indicators for monitoring the quality of laboratory services in five province-level mycobacteriology culture facilities in Thailand. These indicators were derived from literature review, consultation with subject matter experts and our program experience. CONCLUSIONS: We believe that an international consensus document providing monitoring guidelines for mycobacteriology laboratories is urgently needed.