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Doing the right thing for tuberculosis control in the Torres Strait Islands

Anastasios Konstantinos, Graham Simpson, Tania C Sorrell and Ben J Marais
Med J Aust 2011; 195 (9): 512.
doi:
10.5694/mja11.10925

To the Editor: Recent articles in the Journal have noted the first case of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) in New Zealand,1 and emphasised the exponential increase in cost and complexity of managing drug-resistant TB.2 We thus wish to caution against the proposed premature closure of TB treatment services for Papua New Guinea (PNG) citizens who access health care in the Torres St

Anastasios Konstantinos, Director1
Graham Simpson, Director2
Tania C Sorrell, Director3
Ben J Marais, Associate Professor3
1 Queensland Tuberculosis Control Centre, Queensland Health, Brisbane, QLD.
2 Thoracic Medicine and Regional TB Control Unit, Cairns Base Hospital, Cairns, QLD.
3 Sydney Institute for Emerging Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW.
Article References: 
Reference Text: 
Johnson PD. Extensively resistant tuberculosis in the lands Down Under. Med J Aust 2011; 194: 565-566.
Reference Order: 
1
PubMed ID: 
21644866
Reference Link: 
0_CHDDIHFF
Extensively resistant tuberculosis in the lands Down Under
Reference Text: 
Goh TL, Towns CR, Jones KL, et al. Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis: New Zealand’s first case and the challenges of management in a low-prevalence country. Med J Aust 2011; 194: 602-604.
Reference Order: 
2
PubMed ID: 
21644877
Reference Link: 
0_i1142882
Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis: New Zealand’s first case and the challenges of management in a low-prevalence country
Reference Text: 
Gilpin CM, Simpson G, Vincent S, et al. Evidence of primary transmission of multidrug resistant tuberculosis in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. Med J Aust 2008; 188: 148-152.
Reference Order: 
3
PubMed ID: 
18241170
Reference Link: 
0_i1142884
Evidence of primary transmission of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea
Reference Text: 
Gandhi NR, Nunn P, Dheda K, et al. Multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis: a threat to global control of tuberculosis. Lancet 2010; 375: 1830-1843.
Reference Order: 
4
PubMed ID: 
20488523
Reference Link: 
0_i1142886
Reference Text: 
World Health Organization. The Stop TB Strategy. Building on and enhancing DOTS to meet the TB-related Millennium Development Goals. Geneva: WHO, 2006. http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2006/WHO_HTM_STB_2006.368_eng.pdf (accessed Oct 2011).
Reference Order: 
5
PubMed ID: 
Reference Link: 
0_i1142888
Reference Text: 
Tuberculosis Coalition for Technical Assistance. International standards for tuberculosis care. The Hague: TCTA, 2006 http://www.stoptb.org/assets/documents/resources/publications/acsm/istc_report.pdf (accessed Oct 2011).
Reference Order: 
6
PubMed ID: 
Reference Link: 
0_i1142890
Reference Text: 
Reynolds PN, Turnidge JD, Gottlieb T, Moore MJ. Cross-border patients with tuberculosis: position statement from the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand, Australian Society for Microbiology, Australasian Society for Infectious Disease and the Public Health Association of Australia. Med J Aust 2011; 195: 523-524. <eMJA full text>
Reference Order: 
7
PubMed ID: 
Reference Link: 
0_CBBEBCCC
Cross-border patients with tuberculosis

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