Abstract

Belarus, an upper-middle-income country in eastern Europe with a population of 9.5 million reports high levels of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (resistance to rifampicin and isoniazid), which requires many patients to start long second-line treatment regimens each year: 1949 patients in 2015 alone. These patients need directly observed treatment daily due to the high risk of loss to treatment follow-up. Regular travel to treatment services incurs substantial effort, expense and time lost in transit for the patients. Among multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients starting treatment in Belarus in 2013, 12% interrupted medication. The Ministry of Health of Belarus and its Republic Scientific and Practical Centre for Pulmonology and Tuberculosis are investing in digital technologies to further strengthen the national tuberculosis programme. We describe the recent introduction of VOT in Belarus.