Summary
Summary
- Persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) are disproportionately impacted by tuberculosis, with high incidence rates and often limited access to diagnostics, treatment, and preventive measures.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) expanded its recommendations for tuberculosis preventive treatment (TPT) to many high-risk populations, but their guidance does not include PDL, and most low- and middle-income countries do not routinely provide TPT in prisons.
- Recent studies demonstrate high acceptability and completion rates of short-course TPT regimens in jails and prisons; costs of these regimens have been markedly reduced through international agreements, making this an opportune for further expanding their use.
- We argue that PDL should be a priority group for TPT in national guidelines and discuss implementation considerations and resource needs for TPT programs in carceral facilities.
- Scaling access to TPT for PDL is important for reducing disease and transmission in this population; it is also critical to advancing an equitable response to tuberculosis.
Geographies
Global 