Shorter regimens for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis should also be applicable in Europe

Since May 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended shorter regimens to treat rifampicin-resistant/multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (RR/MDR-TB), substantially reducing the treatment duration to 9–12 months [1]. van der Werf et al. [2] estimated that only 11% of RR/MDR-TB patients in the European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA) fulfilled the WHO inclusion criteria, which is similar to estimates by Lange et al. [3] and Sotgiu et al. [4]. This estimate raises concerns, as that the conventional long-duration regimen has very poor results in the EU/EEA. Health sector crisis, increasing inequality and xenophobia add to the urgency to prevent and manage MDR-TB. The main exclusion criteria are as follows. Shorter MDR-TB regimens should not be excluded because of resistance to first-line drugs or extrapulmonary sites