Control de la tuberculosis en Mexico

Abstract

This article discusses the principal components of the National Tuberculosis Control Program that the Mexican Ministry of Health has incorporated into the activities of its operational units within the legal framework of the Technical Regulations for the Prevention and Control of Tuberculosis, established in 1986. The principal aim of the Program is to reduce tuberculosis morbidity and mortality through BCG vaccination, case detection, and treatment of cases. Although BCG immunization has been available since 1977 in primary and secondary health care units, the results of a national survey (1980-1981) indicate that coverage of children under five years old is insufficient. Detection of tuberculosis cases is carried out by means of bacilloscopic examination of sputum from patients over 14 years of age who seek outpatient consultation in Ministry of Health units. Nevertheless, it has been estimated that such action reaches only 60 percent of those the Program hopes to treat. Treatment is ambulatory and free of charge; it is administered either in health units under the supervision of unit personnel or at home by the patient, who is given instruction on how to take the drugs prescribed. Two systems of treatment are used: one of short duration that includes administering isoniazid, rifampicin, and pyrazinamide for six months; and the other, a standard treatment in which isoniazid, strepromycin and