Zambia: Barriers to tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment

Someone with untreated tuberculosis (TB) will infect up to 14 others over a year. TB programmes must lower barriers to care-seeking to reduce this spread. From patients' perspectives, barriers include treatment costs and travel. Proposed reforms to TB programmes in sub-Saharan Africa, including decentralisation, must consider each country's context to prevent negative impacts on care-seeking and under-funded primary health care services.