Abstract
Objectives: Existing evidence suggests that drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) remains a huge public health threat in high-burden TB countries such as Ethiopia. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the challenges of healthcare workers (HCWs) involved in providing DR-TB care in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Methods: We conducted in-depth interviews with 18 HCWs purposively selected from 10 healthcare facilities in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We then transcribed the audiotaped interviews, and thematically analysed the transcripts using Braun and Clark’s reflexive thematic analysis framework.Results: We identified five major themes: 1) inadequate training and provision of information on DR-TB to HCWs assigned to work in DR-TB services, 2) fear of DR-TB infection, 3) risk of contracting DR-TB, 4) a heavy workload, and 5) resource limitations.Conclusion: Our findings highlight major human resource constraints that current DR-TB care policies need to foresee and accommodate. New evidence and best practices on what works in DR-TB care in such resource-limited countries are needed in order to address implementation gaps and to meet global TB strategies.
Highlights
Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) continues to be a major global health issue
The sample was comprised of 18 HCWs, who at the time of the data collection were working in the selected healthcare facilities in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
None of the participants reported that they gained any basic knowledge about DR-TB through formal education that helped them to carry out their daily tasks as DR-TB HCWs
Summary
Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) continues to be a major global health issue. DR-TB is a multifaceted illness with expensive treatment regimens, toxic medications, and a long duration of treatment, thereby creating a substantial burden on patients, healthcare providers, Pragmatic Management of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis and the healthcare system [2]. Nearly 20% of patients who started MDR-TB treatment die during the course of treatment, indicating that unsuccessful pragmatic management of the disease is costing many lives [4, 5]. There are several DR-TB guidelines that may vary in quality and the topics they cover, which may make it difficult for healthcare providers to select the optimal care for their patients [9]. Disease, and suffering due to TB to zero demands that health policymakers and programme planners, inter alia, critically investigate existing gaps
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
