Non-adherence to medication and drug toxicity: tuberculosis treatment in the era of the World Health Organization's End Tuberculosis Strategy

The aim of this project is to investigate the relationship between non-adherence to, and side effects from, TB treatment and the implications of this for the reintroduction of medication and treatment outcomes. It is hoped that this aim will be achieved by completing the following three objectives. Firstly, the burden and patterns of non-adherence due to side effects from treatment using epidemiological approaches will be determined. Secondly, the types and severity of side effects experienced by patients during their TB treatment course and their relationship with different non-adherence patterns will be characterised. Lastly, among individuals hospitalised with liver toxicity, the frequency and clinical features of toxicity recurrence following medicine re-introduction will be characterised using conventional tools and novel high sensitivity mechanistic biomarkers. Additionally, determine if a severe recurrence can be detected earlier using these biomarkers versus traditional clinical tests.