The World Health Programme has been promoting a program that includes closer surveillance of tuberculosis patients to ensure that they take appropriate medicine and adhere to the medication schedule, as well as follow-ups to determine whether patients have been cured. It claims the program, called Directly Observed Treatment Shortcourse, or DOTS, has a 96 percent cure rate. Currently only about half of the 3 million to 8 million new tuberculosis cases each year are cured.