The study, a collaboration between the National Tuberculosis Institute, Hanoi, Vietnam and the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, was carried out in a district of Quang Ninh Province in North Vietnam.

To describe TB services, attitudes of staff and attitudes of patients considered as defaulters to TB treatment.

Two focus group discussions were carried out with staff at the district hospital. Ten defaulter patients were interviewed in their homes.

This exploratory study has revealed some important aspects of staff and patients’ attitudes to TB and its treatment. TB is considered a ‘dirty’ disease, which mainly affects poor people. There is a tendency to avoid telling others about it. Obvious symptoms are explained as ‘being over-worked’. A patient with TB feels ‘less respected’ by others. The social stigmatization leads to delays in seeking medical care, often only after self-medication: anti-TB drugs can be brought without prescription in various pharmacies. The patient’s economic situation is also an important determinant of compliance and non-compliance. These factors need to be taken into consideration in TB control in Vietnam.