Tuberculosis is currently treated with a 6-month course regimen. During this time many patients might fail to adhere to treatment and default, increasing the risk of recurrent disease which might be multidrug resistant. A shorter duration of treatment is expected to provide improved patient compliance and at least equal or better clinical outcome. The aim of the trial is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a gatifloxacin-containing regimen of four months duration for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis,

In order to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the 4-month test gatifloxacin-containing regimen, comparison will be made with a standard 6-month regimen, recommended by WHO. Patients will be treated with one of the two regimens that will be randomly allocated. A total of 2070 patients will ne recruited in the trial and followed-up for a duration of 2 years. The trial is multicentre, and conducted in 5 countries in Africa.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Male or female patients
• Aged 18 to 65 years
• Currently suffering from recently diagnosed microscopically proven pulmonary tuberculosis and providing informed consent for inclusion in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with history of tuberculosis treatment within the last 3 years
• History of diabetes mellitus or non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus requiring treatment
• Concomitant infection requiring additional anti-infective treatment (especially anti-retroviral therapy)
• HIV infected patients with WHO stage 3 infection - except those presenting with only the "loss of weight>10% body weight" criterion - and all HIV infected patients at WHO stage 4.