New indicators proposed to assess tuberculosis control and elimination in Cuba

years of successful operation of the National Tuber- culosis Control Program, Cuban health authorities have placed tuberculosis elimination on the agenda. To this end some tuber- culosis control processes and their indicators need redesigned and new ones introduced, related to: number and proportion of suspected tuberculosis cases among vulnerable population groups; tuberculosis suspects with sputum microscopy and cul- ture results useful for diagnosis (interpretable); and number of identifi ed contacts of reported tuberculosis cases who were fully investigated. Such new indicators have been validated and suc- cessfully implemented in all provinces (2011-12) and are in the approval pipeline for generalized use in the National Tuberculosis Control Program. These indicators complement existing criteria for quality of case detection and support more comprehensive program performance assessment.