Pushing for scale-up of MDR-TB
Treating MDR-TB is a lengthy, expensive, and extremely challenging process. It requires patients to submit to arduous treatment carrying many side effects for up to two years. Difficulty treating and diagnosing MDR-TB has led to the fact that fewer than 2.5% of the approximately 500,000 people who have developed MDR-TB receive the appropriate treatment. This is largely because without access to simple diagnostics, fewer than 5% of cases are identified.
UNITAID, together with its partners, is working to increase the number of patients that have access to MDR-TB treatment, accelerate scale-up, and prevent treatment interruption. It is working to reduce drug delivery times from three to six months down to three weeks. UNITAID is also encouraging more producers to enter the market, helping improve quality and reduce prices by up to 25% by 2011.
Rolling out a revolutionary rapid MDR-TB diagnostic
Diagnosing MDR-TB is very difficult, especially in resource-poor settings, where access to laboratories with sophisticated equipment can be limited. A new diagnostic test is now available which cuts the time it takes to diagnose MDR-TB from up to three months down to only two days. This represents a revolution in MDR-TB diagnosis, and will facilitate treatment. It will also contribute to the ability to forecast demand for MDR-TB medicines. This, in turn, should have an impact on price, availability and quality of treatment.
UNITAID has committed to funding these tests until 2011, with the aim of facilitating the response to 15% of the global MDR-TB burden, representing a three-fold increase over the current 5% of MDR-TB cases being diagnosed.
2010 update - Strengthening tuberculosis laboratories in Ethiopia – what has been accomplished
Expanding access to tuberculosis treatment for children
Despite the fact that children make up as much as 20% of new cases of active tuberculosis in high-burden settings, paediatric TB diagnosis and treatment remains largely neglected. Consequently, the development of appropriate and adapted paediatric TB drug formulations consistently lags behind that of adults.
UNITAID, through it partners, aims to provide more than 750,000 TB treatments to children under the age of 15 by 2011. It is also working to ensure the development and supply of new child-friendly TB formulations for children under four in at least 58 countries by 2011. By helping increase the number of manufacturers, UNITAID has additionally achieved price reductions for paediatric TB medicines of up to 18%. Further, UNITAID’s funding support to WHO has facilitated the prequalification of the first ever paediatric TB medicine.
The first-line of defence against emerging resistance: securing first-line TB treatment
Standard first-line TB treatment requires a patient to take antibiotics daily for a minimum of six months. An unfinished treatment course can lead to treatment failure and the emergence of drug resistance. The first line of defence against the development of drug-resistant TB, therefore, is broad access to first-line TB treatment with appropriate adherence and treatment follow-up.
In response, UNITAID, through its partner the Global Drug Facility (GDF) of the Stop TB Partnership, is ensuring there is steady availability of first-line drugs in countries by supporting the creation and implementation of a strategic rotating stockpile of first-line TB drugs. The UNITAID-GDF partnership is supporting the diagnosis and treatment of more than 866 000 patients by 2011. UNITAID is also working to stabilize and further reduce prices for first-line drugs through the predictable, long-term funding it provides.
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