Emergency contraception

What response is needed?The global scale and molecular epidemiology of extensively drug resistant tuberculosis require urgent assessment, and laboratory capacity needs to be greatly increased within a network of sentinel sites.Control practices must be rigorously and effectively implemented.Increasing cure rates for tuberculosis through directly observed treatment short course (DOTS) is crucial.Detection rates for cases of tuberculosis need to be improved, highlighting the need for a new diagnostic test.Technologies that can determine the presence of drug resistance at the point of care are needed, as are new drug treatments.The DOTS-Plus strategy 10 for treatment of multidrug resistant tuberculosis needs to be further developed for areas where the disease is established.Nosocomial transmission of tuberculosis is probably commonplace in the developing world, and simple, effective strategies to reduce such transmission need to be urgently implemented.More fundamentally, the emergence of extensively drug resistant tuberculosis is a reminder that tuberculosis needs massive broader commitment: the incompletely funded Global Plan to Stop TB 11 demands political will and financial action.