Consolidated Guidelines

Annex 1.1. Experts participating in the guideline update, 2017

Guideline Development Group (GDG) members

Si Thu Aung, Deputy Director (TB) and National TB Programme Manager, Ministry of Health, Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar (Unable to attend the meeting)

Frank Bonsu, National TB Programme Manager, Ministry of Health, Accra, Ghana

Jeremiah Muhwa Chakaya, Clinician, National TB Programme Manager, Nairobi, Kenya

Lucy Chesire, Nairobi, Kenya

1. Guidelines for the programmatic management of drug-resistant tuberculosis, 2011 update. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2011.
2. Guidelines for treatment of drug-susceptible tuberculosis and patient care – 2017 update. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2017.
3. WHO consolidated guidelines on tuberculosis. Module 5: Co-morbidities, vulnerable populations and people-centred care. Management of tuberculosis in children and adolescents. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2022.

The Global TB Programme (GTB) of the World Health Organization (WHO) has been combining all current recommendations into one overall set of consolidated guidelines on TB. The guidelines contain recommendations regarding all areas related to the programmatic management of TB (e.g. screening, preventive treatment, diagnostics, the treatment of drug-susceptible and drug-resistant TB, patient care and support). The consolidated guidelines contain modules specific to each programmatic area.

The recommendations and remarks contained in this document were formulated by three different Guideline Development Groups (GDGs) convened by the Global TB Programme (GTB) of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland. The original documents were: Guideline update on management of drug-resistant TB, 2011; Guidelines for treatment of drug-susceptible tuberculosis and patient care, 2017 update; and WHO consolidated guidelines on tuberculosis.

The GDGs discussed future research and highlighted a number of priorities.

1. The effectiveness of fixed-dose combination TB treatment when compared to separate drug formulations in patients with DS-TB disease

For several decades the World Health Organization (WHO) developed and issued recommendations on the treatment of TB. The most recent WHO recommendations for treating people suffering from drug-susceptible TB (DS-TB) have been defined in the WHO's Guidelines for treatment of drug-susceptible tuberculosis and patient care, 2010 and 2017 updates [3, 4]. These guidelines focused on the 6-month treatment regimen composed of four first-line TB medicines, namely isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol and pyrazinamide, recommended for treatment of DS-TB.