In this week's PLoS Medicine, Philip Campbell Hill of the University of Otago, New Zealand and colleagues propose a new approach to help better manage child contacts of adult TB cases, using a health needs assessment framework, research tools, and a strategy for clinical evaluation. They show how the approach could be applied and evaluated by National TB Control Programs, to ensure that its solutions are sustainable.
The authors say: "We envisage that this approach will help close the gap between policy and practice in TB control in children. As such, it will contribute to the achievement of Millennium Development Goal number four, to reduce child mortality. In addition, it will help reduce the reservoir of M. tuberculosis in the community, which is necessary for TB elimination."
Source: Public Library of Science