Setting: Private clinics and hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Objectives: To assess the knowledge of private practitioners (PPs) with regard to tuberculosis (TB) control and their practice of TB diagnosis, treatment and monitoring.
Design: A descriptive survey was conducted among PPs. A total of 120 responded to a self-administered questionnaire.
Results: According to 81.5% of the PPs, at least two to five TB cases were diagnosed in their clinic per week. The correct anti-tuberculosis treatment regimens recommended by the National Tuberculosis Programme (NTP) were mentioned by only 9.7% of the doctors, while 63% listed 68 regimens. The majority (41.0%) monitored treatment using chest X-ray (CXR) alone, while 21.0% use CXR in combination with another diagnostic tool. Eighty per cent of the PPs did not keep a TB register, and case holding was non-existent.
Conclusions: PPs in Addis Ababa diagnose a high number of TB cases. However, there is a huge lack of information on anti-tuberculosis treatment. This shows the likely irrational use of the few available anti-tuberculosis drugs, which may favour the emergence and spread of drug resistance.