Advancing China’s end tuberculosis strategy goals leveraged by active case finding and preventive therapy

Аннотация

Tuberculosis remains a major public health issue in China, with 741,000 new cases in 2023. Despite significant strides in tuberculosis control, suboptimal case detection and low acceptance rate of tuberculosis preventive treatment hamper tuberculosis elimination. To meet the WHO’s 2030 End Tuberculosis target, China’s “National Tuberculosis Prevention and Control Program (2024–2030)” prioritizes active case finding and preventive treatment. Active case finding targets high-risk groups (people living with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, the elderly, individuals with diabetes and previously treated tuberculosis patients and close contacts of tuberculosis patients) using advanced screening methods. Implementation of active case finding should be performed in setting- ang region-specific manner. Tuberculosis preventive treatment focuses on latent tuberculosis infections with shorter, safer regimens. The effective implementation of tuberculosis preventive treatment requires integration into the comprehensive “Center for Disease Control and Prevention − Hospital − Primary Medical Institutions” framework. The “Zero-TB Communities” initiative integrates these strategies, aiming at fewer than 10 cases per 100,000 people. The framework of this initiative includes screening for active tuberculosis cases, drug resistant tuberculosis and latent tuberculosis infection, management of identified tuberculosis cases and tuberculosis preventive treatment, as long as social advocacy and mobilization. Through evidence-based interventions and multi-sector collaboration, China aims to accelerate tuberculosis control and contribute to global elimination efforts.