WORKING GROUP RECOMMENDATIONS Standardized tuberculosis treatment outcome monitoring in Europe Recommendations of a Working Group of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European Region of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disea

aa The resurgence of tuberculosis (TB) in recent years in many industrialized countries [1–7] has shown that the disease occurs frequently in specific groups, such as for-eign-born persons from countries with a high prevalence, intravenous drug users and socially marginalized people. In some of these groups there is an additional risk for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection or anti-TB drug resistance [8]. The reasons for the resurgence of TB in central and eastern Europe are not entirely clear, as HIV is not widespread in the area and immigration from high-prevalence countries does not seem to be an issue. Possible causes are a rapid increase in poverty, poor living conditions with overcrowding, war, malnutrition, lack of drugs, the chronic problem of underfunding of Nationa