Stop TB policy paper : TB impact measurement : policy and recommendations for how to assess the epidemiological burden of TB and the impact of TB control

Overview

Global targets for reducing the epidemiological burden of tuberculosis (TB) – measured as incidence, prevalence and mortality – have been set for 2015 within the context of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and by the Stop TB Partnership. The targets are that the TB incidence rate should be falling globally by 2015 and that TB prevalence and death rates should be halved by 2015 compared with their levels in 1990. Achieving these impact targets is the focus of national and international efforts to control TB, and demonstrating whether or not they are achieved is of major importance for individual countries, the United Nations, the Stop TB Partnership and a variety of technical, financial and development agencies.

A Global Task Force on TB Impact Measurement was established in June 2006. The Task Force is convened by the Stop TB Department of the World Health Organization (WHO), and includes international experts in TB epidemiology, representatives from countries with a high burden of TB, and representatives from a range of technical and financial agencies.

This policy paper sets out WHO policies and recommendations for how TB incidence, prevalence and mortality should be measured in the years up to 2015. Many of these policies and recommendations will apply after 2015. The paper is based on policies and recommendations agreed by the WHO Global Task Force on TB Impact Measurement, which have also been endorsed by WHO’s Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for TB (STAG-TB).