What is the full form of DOTS

DOTS: Directly Observed Therapy, Short-course

DOTS stands for Directly Observed Therapy, Short-course. It is also known as TB-DOTS. It refers to a strategy that aims to cure the tuberculosis (TB) and reduce the number of tuberculosis cases. In this strategy, a health care worker or any other designated person (excluding the family members) provides the prescribed TB drugs to the TB patients and makes sure that the patient swallows every dose. If the patient is left alone with medicine he or she may forget to take some of their doses which may lead to the spread of drug-resistant tuberculosis.

Importance of DOTS

• It prevents TB from spreading to others.
• It decreases the chances of treatment failure.
• It helps patents finish their TB treatment as quickly as possible and without any gap.
• It decreases the risk of drug-resistance TB which results from the incomplete treatment.
• According to studies, under DOTS, 85-90% of TB patients took their medication correctly as compared to 62% TB patients who were on self-administered therapy.
• We cannot be sure that the patient will take medication as directed; people may forget or have problems taking medication correctly. This problem can be solved with DOTS.

Key Steps of DOTS

• Delivering the prescribed medication as directed in DOTS
• Checking for the side effects related to medication
• To make sure the patient swallows the medication
• Documenting the visit
• Answering questions related to TB and DOTS

Global Solution

• Since 1995, more than 21 million TB patients have been treated through DOTS programmes.
• By 2005, around 190 countries had adopted DOTS programmes to cure TB.
• In 2006, around 2.5 million cases of smear-positive patients were registered, 85% of which successfully treated under DOTS.
• In 2007, around 5 million new and relapse cases of TB were treated under DOTS strategy.