Objective:The Study aimed to develop a rapid inexpensive and simple method for preliminary isolation and detection of M.tuberculosis from clinical specimens.Also to probe the impact of deteriorating health measures on the pulmonary tuberculosis control program in Basra city.Methods:A simple monophasic-diphasic setup (MDCS) was used for the isolation and preliminary identification of M.tuberculosis.This setup consists of a slanted Lowenstein-Jensen medium,the bottom of it is covered with 1 mL of tuberculosis broth thus establishing a diphasic solid liquid environment at the bottom of the screw capped test tube and above them a monophasic one.Results:During 7 months period from the beginning of December 2003 to the end of June 2004,1 295 cases were managed in Tuberculosis and Chest Diseases Clinic in Basra city.Only 348 cases were diagnosed as active pulmonary tuberculosis.They consist of 232 new cases and 116 previously registered ones.The MDCS method showed higher recovery of isolation rate of M.tuberculosis(92.3%) than Lowenstein-Jensen,and pyruvate methods with 78.1%and 51.9%respectively.Also this method revealed more rapid appearance of results of 12 days than Lowenstein-Jensen,and pyruvate media with 22 days and 23 days respectively by the traditional culturing methods.Concurrently the study revealed that drug resistance against one or more anti tuberculosis drugs was 23.1%for new cases and 70.8%for the old ones.Multi drug resistance accounts for 20%of total isolates from old cases.This was based on using the critical concentration and 1%proportional procedures.Tuberculosis was more common among males than females with 69.4%and 30.6%respectively. A significant correlation(P<0.05) was found between the productive age group(25-54) and incidence of tuberculosis. Tuberculosis was higher among married(83.8%) than unmarried peoples(22%).Children,husbands and wives showed higher infection rates than others indicating kinship influence.Failure of treatment was highly affected by improper use of anti tuberculosis drugs.Conclusion:The MDCS method exhibited several advantages over other culturing techniques exemplified by elimination of transport medium,establishment of simultaneous but two separate environments to accomplish both the detection and preliminary identification of M.tuberculosis,providing flexibility in the kinds of media used in the liquid and solid phases and it is inexpensive. Objective: The Study aimed to develop a rapid inexpensive and simple method for preliminary isolation and detection of M. tuberculosis from clinical specimens. Als to probe the impact of deteriorating health measures on the pulmonary tuberculosis control program in Basra city. Methods: A simple monophasic -diphasic setup (MDCS) was used for the isolation and preliminary identification of M. tuberculosis. This setup consists of a slanted Lowenstein-Jensen medium, the bottom of which is covered with 1 mL of tuberculosis broth thus establishing a diphasic solid liquid environment at the bottom of the screw capped test tube and above them a monophasic one. Results: During 7 months period from the beginning of December 2003 to the end of June 2004, 295 cases were managed in Tuberculosis and Chest Diseases Clinic in Basra city.Only 348 cases were diagnosed as active pulmonary tuberculosis. The consist of 232 new cases and 116 previously registered ones. The MDCS method showed higher recovery of isolation rate of M. tuberculosis (92.3%) than Lowenstein-Jensen, and pyruvate methods with 78.1% and 51.9% respectively. Also this method revealed more rapid appearance of results of 12 days than Lowenstein-Jensen, and pyruvate media with 22 days and 23 Days respectively by the study exposed that drug resistance against one or more anti tuberculosis drugs was 23.1% for new cases and 70.8% for the old ones. Multi drug resistance accounts for 20% of total isolates from old cases. This was based on using the critical concentration and 1% proportional procedures. Tuberculosis was more common among males than females with 69.4% and 30.6% respectively. A significant correlation was found between the productive age groups (25-54) Tuberculosis was higher among married (83.8%) than unmarried peoples (22%). Children, husbands and wives showed higher infection rates than others indicating kinship influence. Food of treatment was highly affected by improper use of anti tuberculosis drugs. Confc: The MDCS method exhibits several advantages over other culturing techniques by by elimination of transport medium, establishment of simultaneous but two separate environments to accomplish both the detection and preliminary identification of M. tuberculosis, providing flexibility in the kinds of media used in the liquid and solid phases and it is inexpensive.