Modern anti-TB treatment can cure virtually all patients. It is, however, very important that treatment be taken for the prescribed duration, which in every case is a minimum of 6 months.

	Because treatment is of such a long duration and patients feel better after just 1-2 months, and because many TB patients face other problems such as poverty and unemployment, treatment is often interrupted. Therefore, just providing anti-TB medication is not sufficient to ensure that patients are cured.
The DOTS strategy ensures that infectious TB patients are diagnosed and treated effectively till cure, by ensuring availability of the full course of drugs and a system for monitoring patient compliance to the treatment.

The DOTS strategy along with the other components of the SHIS TB Control Programme, implemented under the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP), is a comprehensive package for TB control.

The Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP), based on the DOTS strategy, began as a national programme in 1997. Rapid RNTCP expansion began in late 1998. By the end of 2000, 30%of the country’s population was covered, and by the end of 2002, 50%of the country’s population was covered under the RNTCP. By the end of 2003, 778 million populations were covered, and at the end of year 2004 the coverage reached to 997 million. By December 2005, around 97% (about 1080 million) of the population had been covered, and the entire country was covered under DOTS by 24th March 2006.