Treatment of Tuberculosis in the Tropics: An Evidence-based Review

Cases of tuberculosis have been increasing globally despite declining incidence rates in developed countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported approximately 8million new cases of tuberculosis (TB) per year in the late 1990s (1). An estimated 1.8million people died with TB each year worldwide, the global fatality rate is about 23%, but this figure doubles in some African countries with high prevalence of HIV and TB coinfection. Eighty percent of all new TB cases annually originated in 23 high-burden countries, located in South East Asia, the Western Pacific, Africa, and the Americas (2). This chapter will address the treatment of TB in those high-burden countries, most of them located in tropical areas.