Table. Results of the World Health Organization survey on how the COVID-19 pandemic affected tuberculosis services in the WHO European Region countries, April–June 2020 (n = 44).
| Survey questions | Total number (N) |
Yes (n) |
No (n) |
Don’t know/did not respond (n) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Have any changes been made to how TB treatment services are delivered due to the COVID-19 pandemic? | 44 | 25 | 18 | 1 |
| 1.1. Reduced frequency of outpatient visits to a health facility for treatment monitoring or collection of drugs for patients with drug-susceptible TB | 44 | 22 | 20 | 2 |
| 1.2. Reduced frequency of outpatient visits to a health facility for treatment monitoring or collection of drugs for patients with multidrug or rifampicin-resistant TB | 44 | 18 | 24 | 2 |
| 1.3. Amount of anti-TB drugs given to patients to take home increased to one month or more | 44 | 18 | 22 | 4 |
| 1.4. TB patient can nominate another household member to collect anti-TB drugs from a health facility on their behalf | 44 | 12 | 28 | 4 |
| 1.5. Home delivery of anti-TB drugs to TB patients | 44 | 17 | 22 | 5 |
| 1.6. Expanded use of remote advice and support for TB patients | 44 | 19 | 21 | 4 |
| 1.7. Reduced number of health facilities where outpatient TB treatment is provided for patients with drug-susceptible TB | 44 | 10 | 33 | 1 |
| 1.8 Reduced number of health facilities where outpatient TB treatment is provided for patients with multidrug or rifampicin-resistant TB | 44 | 8 | 35 | 1 |
| 1.9 Reduced number of hospitals where inpatient treatment is provided for patients with drug-susceptible TB | 44 | 9 | 32 | 3 |
| 1.10. Reduced number of hospitals where inpatient treatment is provided for patients with multidrug or rifampicin-resistant TB | 44 | 7 | 35 | 2 |
| 2. Have TB patients been asked to self-isolate at home? | 44 | 20 | 21 | 3 |
| 3. Has there been any reallocation of resources from TB services to COVID-19 testing and treatment? | 44 | 20 | 23 | 1 |
| 3.1. GeneXpert machines used for TB diagnosis reassigned for COVID-19 testing | 44 | 6 | 36 | 2 |
| 3.2. Staff in the central unit of the NTP reassigned to other duties | 44 | 14 | 29 | 1 |
| 3.3. NTP staff at subnational levels systematically reassigned to other duties | 44 | 16 | 25 | 3 |
| 3.4. Budgets originally allocated for TB reallocated to the COVID-19 response | 44 | 10 | 28 | 6 |
CI: confidence interval; COVID-19: coronavirus disease; NTP: National Tuberculosis Programme; TB: tuberculosis.