International Programs

Tuberculosis (TB) in Ecuador has continued to present a major health problem. A culturally competent and sensitive implementation of control is needed in order to curb the current course of TB in Ecuador. The success of any TB program implementation depends on its cultural relevancy, expediency, and manageability. Factors including poverty, malnutrition, social/racial disparities, etiological difference, and the emergence of AIDS and multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-Tb) have been largely responsible for the current state of TB in the country. Suggestions for the development of successful TB control programs in Ecuador include a better understanding of differences in disease etiologies in the populace; expansion of existing health facilities to accommodate TB and AIDS; Directly Observed Treatment, Short-Course (DOTS) implementation in a culturally competent, sensitive and sustained method; food provision for TB patients during course of treatment; sustained political, economic community commitment; realization of heterogeneity of Ecuadorian populace, and a focus on the treatment of the person, not simply the disease.