Formal Education Vs Health Literacy: An Insight into Treatment Outcome of the Randomized Control Trial of MDR-TB Patients in Pakistan

This study analyzes the impact of education, health policy initiatives i.e. selection of treatment arms of ambulatory vs. hospital care and financial incentives under taken by the National Tuberculosis Program of Pakistan (NTP) on the outcome of cure of multi-drug resistance tuberculosis patients. The data of 370 patients enrolled in randomized control trial is collected from three TB centers of Lahore, Karachi and Murree and multi-variate logistic regression method is applied. The empirical findings show that formal education and selection of treatment arm do not significantly affect the outcome of the cure. However, health literacy provided by the NTP plays vital role in improving the treatment outcomes. Therefore, it is suggested that health literacy should be focused in our formal education for the improvement of the health-status of the nation. Moreover, WHO (2011) recommendation of shift towards ambulatory care is applicable for Pakistan and financial incentives should continue as it reduces the treatment burden for patients.