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Tuberculosis (TB) remains an important global health concern, even though it is largely curable with treatment that is affordable and widely accessible for diagnosed and notified TB patients. If not administered correctly, TB treatment regimens may fail to deliver a relapse-free cure, favouring continued transmission and the emergence of drug resistance. Monitoring the effectiveness of TB treatment is thus critically important in both clinical practice and surveillance, to maximise the quality of individual patient care and the effectiveness of public health action. Standardised TB treatment outcome definitions have been a feature of World Health Organization (WHO) policies and national TB surveillance systems for many years. This has allowed the monitoring of TB treatment outcomes over time at national and global levels.