The Marshall Islands Minister of Health is asking Parliament to give the director of health the power to quarantine people who do not voluntarily comply with TB prevention requirements.
The move follows an escalating outbreak of drug-resistant tuberculosis in the Marshall Islands.
Introducing the legislation, the Health Minister, Amenta Matthew, said the current system requiring public health officials to take a person to court is a lengthy and difficult process that does not adequately prevent the spread of contagious diseases.
She said drug resistant TB has developed as a result of non-compliance to medications due largely to patients' refusal to take their medication.
Health officials say it costs 170,000 US dollars per patient for medications to treat drug resistant TB, causing a major drain on limited government resources.
Public health officials took a patient to court last week for failing to take TB treatment and remain in isolation.
The court session ended without immediate result allowing the patient to remain in the community.
