They can be trained to do specialized tasks such as provide sexually transmitted disease counseling, directly observed therapy for tuberculosis control, or act as trained birth attendants.

"The fundamental principle of the new plan will be to directly observe therapy for every patient with active tuberculosis in New York," Dr. DiFerdinando said at the meeting.

This is called directly observed therapy (DOT) and may mean a daily office or home visit.

The most effective strategy for ensuring the completion of treatment is directly observed therapy (DOT), and its use must be expanded.

But the reality is that it simply makes no sense in terms of our limited resources to force everyone to have directly observed therapy.

The standard of care for tuberculosis (a standard out of economic reach to much of the world) is "directly observed therapy," which, simply put, entails watching patients swallow every tablet.

This is called directly observed therapy (DOT), and it helps make sure that people take their medicines exactly as they are supposed to.

Such programs however, called directly observed therapy, have met with limited success in the past, and officials worry about what will happen if they fail, now, too.

Far from castigating directly observed therapy for tuberculosis, I lament that it is too often eschewed in favor of imprisonment.

In fact, more than 1,000 patients participate in "directly observed therapy," in which health workers watch them swallow their pills either at clinics or at their homes.