Editing Tuberculosis (section)

=== Public health efforts ===
In 2012, The World Health Organization (WHO), the [[Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation]], and the U.S. government subsided a fast-acting diagnostic tuberculosis test, [[GeneXpert MTB/RIF|Xpert MTB/RIF]], for use in low- and middle-income countries.<ref>{{cite web |date=6 August 2012 |title=Public–Private Partnership Announces Immediate 40 Percent Cost Reduction for Rapid TB Test |url=https://www.who.int/tb/features_archive/GeneXpert_press_release_final.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029234310/http://www.who.int/tb/features_archive/GeneXpert_press_release_final.pdf |archive-date=29 October 2013 |publisher=World Health Organization (WHO)}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Lawn SD, Nicol MP | title = Xpert® MTB/RIF assay: development, evaluation and implementation of a new rapid molecular diagnostic for tuberculosis and rifampicin resistance | journal = Future Microbiology | volume = 6 | issue = 9 | pages = 1067–82 | date = September 2011 | pmid = 21958145 | pmc = 3252681 | doi = 10.2217/fmb.11.84 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6B71RF20101208 |title=WHO says Cepheid rapid test will transform TB care |work=[[Reuters]] |date=8 December 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101211140847/http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6B71RF20101208 |archive-date=11 December 2010 }}</ref> This is a rapid molecular test used to diagnose TB and simultaneously detect rifampicin resistance. It provides results in about two hours, which is much faster than traditional TB culture methods. The test is designed for use with the [[Cepheid (company)|GeneXpert]] System.<ref name="CDC_Xpert_2024">{{Cite web |date=2024-04-29 |title=Xpert MTB/RIF Assay - A Tool to Diagnose Tuberculosis |url=https://www.cdc.gov/tb/php/laboratory-information/xpert-mtb-rif-assay.html |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |language=en-us}}</ref>

A 2014 [[Economist Intelligence Unit|EIU]]-healthcare report finds there is a need to address apathy and urges for increased funding. The report cites among others Lucica Ditui "[TB] is like an orphan. It has been neglected even in countries with a high burden and often forgotten by donors and those investing in health interventions."<ref name="Kielstra-2014"/>

Slow progress has led to frustration, expressed by the executive director of the [[Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria]] – Mark Dybul: "we have the tools to end TB as a pandemic and public health threat on the planet, but we are not doing it."<ref name="Kielstra-2014"/> Several international organizations are pushing for more transparency in treatment, and more countries are implementing mandatory reporting of cases to the government as of 2014, although adherence is often variable. Commercial treatment providers may at times overprescribe second-line drugs as well as supplementary treatment, promoting demands for further regulations.<ref name="Kielstra-2014"/>

The government of Brazil provides universal TB care, which reduces this problem.<ref name="Kielstra-2014"/> Conversely, falling rates of TB infection may not relate to the number of programs directed at reducing infection rates but may be tied to an increased level of education, income, and health of the population.<ref name="Kielstra-2014"/> Costs of the disease, as calculated by the [[World Bank]] in 2009 may exceed US$150&nbsp;billion per year in "high burden" countries.<ref name="Kielstra-2014"/> Lack of progress eradicating the disease may also be due to lack of patient follow-up – as among the 250 million [[migration in China|rural migrants in China]].<ref name="Kielstra-2014"/>

There is insufficient data to show that active contact tracing helps to improve case detection rates for tuberculosis.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Fox GJ, Dobler CC, Marks GB | title = Active case finding in contacts of people with tuberculosis | journal = The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews | issue = 9 | pages = CD008477 | date = September 2011 | volume = 2011 | pmid = 21901723 | pmc = 6532613 | doi = 10.1002/14651858.CD008477.pub2 }}</ref> Interventions such as house-to-house visits, educational leaflets, mass media strategies, educational sessions may increase tuberculosis detection rates in short-term.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Mhimbira FA, Cuevas LE, Dacombe R, Mkopi A, Sinclair D | title = Interventions to increase tuberculosis case detection at primary healthcare or community-level services | journal = The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews | volume = 2017 | pages = CD011432 | date = November 2017 | issue = 11 | pmid = 29182800 | pmc = 5721626 | doi = 10.1002/14651858.CD011432.pub2 | collaboration = Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group }}</ref> There is no study that compares new methods of contact tracing such as social network analysis with existing contact tracing methods.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Braganza Menezes D, Menezes B, Dedicoat M | title = Contact tracing strategies in household and congregate environments to identify cases of tuberculosis in low- and moderate-incidence populations | journal = The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews | volume = 2019 | pages = CD013077 | date = August 2019 | issue = 8 | pmid = 31461540 | pmc = 6713498 | doi = 10.1002/14651858.CD013077.pub2 | collaboration = Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group }}</ref>