DOTS Strategy for Tuberculosis Control

A tuberculosis control strategy formally recommended by the World Health Organization in the mid-1990s, built around Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course: a standardized short-course drug regimen taken under direct observation by a health worker or trained volunteer to ensure adherence, paired with reliable drug supply, standardized recording and reporting, and government commitment to sustained TB control. DOTS became the global standard of care for drug-susceptible tuberculosis and was credited by WHO with millions of lives saved through improved treatment completion and cure rates. From 2015, WHO's broader End TB Strategy set more ambitious elimination targets and put additional emphasis on multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, which the original DOTS approach was not designed to address, but the DOTS combination of observed treatment and reliable supply chains has remained the operational core of tuberculosis programs worldwide.