The fight against TB: Bayer donates drugs to WHO program

According to a report from PharmaTimes, Bayer will donate 620,000 tablets of its antibiotic moxifloxacin in order to help tackle multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.

The drugs will be provided to the World Health Organization for use in its Stop Tuberculosis Partnership, with the WHO expected to provide the antibiotics to China’s national tuberculosis programme.

World TB Day 2011

Today is World TB Day – an opportunity to raise awareness about the global epidemic of tuberculosis (TB) and efforts to eliminate the disease.  It is estimated that 1/3 of the world’s population are infected with the bacteria that causes TB; according to the World Health Organization, more than 14 million people have active TB (as of 2009) leading to 4,600 deaths each day.

Globally, there were an estimated 9.4 million new cases of TB in 2008.

For more information, visit:

• Stop TB Partnership
• World Health Organization

Key health issues of 2010: drug-resistant TB

From the WHO’s photo story,  2010 in review:  key health issues.

Drug-resistant tuberculosis at record high levels

In some areas of the world, one in four people with tuberculosis becomes ill with a form of the disease that can no longer be treated with standard drugs regimens, according to WHO’s Multidrug and extensively drug-resistant TB (M/XDR-TB): 2010 global report on surveillance and response.

However, there are encouraging signs that governments and partners can achieve a decline in this drug-resistant tuberculosis by implementing WHO recommendations.

WHO unveils new global plan to stop TB

The World Health Organization laid out a new plan on Wednesday to combat tuberculosis and the nearly 2 million deaths it causes each year through a combination of better testing, diagnosis and drugs.  (Source:  Reuters)

“The Global Plan to Stop TB 2011-2015″ will cost about $47 billion, with money going to fund more testing labs and research projects to develop and deliver medicine to treat the disease, it said in its plan.

“The stakes are high: without rapid scale-up of TB prevention and treatment, some 10 million people will die of a curable disease by 2015,” said Marcos Espinal, the partnership’s executive secretary.

All countries are affected but most of the cases occur in Asia and Africa. India and China account for 35 percent of all cases. TB ranks as the eighth-leading cause of death in low- and middle-income countries, it said.

The WHO is looking for about half the money for the programme to come from high-income countries and said if fully implemented, it could save about 5 million lives.

It is aiming for a 90 percent treatment success rate by 2015, up from 86 percent in 2008/09 and to have all TB patients tested for HIV.  About one-fourth are tested now and TB is a leading killer of those infected with HIV.

The plan also calls for more testing and better treatment strategies for multi-drug resistant strains of TB. The WHO first launched its plan to end TB in 2001 and adjusted its strategy in 2006.

Global Fund to combat AIDS, TB and malaria receives $11 billion boost

Donor countries, private foundations, corporations and individuals meeting at the United Nations have pledged over $11.5 billion in new funding over the next three years for the global partnership to fight three killer diseases – HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. (UN News)

“At a time when so many Governments are tightening their belts, these commitments send a powerful message. It shows that many world leaders want to do the right thing beyond their borders, too,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who chaired the two-day replenishment meeting for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.

Over the past eight years, programmes supported by the Global Fund have saved an estimated 5.7 million lives, provided AIDS treatment for 2.8 million people and TB treatment for 7 million people, and distributed 122 million bed nets to prevent malaria.

The Global Fund was created in 2002 to scale up resources to fight three of the world’s most devastating diseases, and to direct those resources to areas of greatest need.  To date, it has committed $19.3 billion in 144 countries to support large-scale prevention, treatment and care programmes against the three diseases.

Access to new test for drug-resistant TB must be improved: WHO expert

A World Health Organization expert called for greater access to a new diagnostic tool for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in the Western Pacific and southeast Asia.  The new diagnostic tool reduces the time needed to detect MDR-TB from eight weeks to two hours.

Drug-resistant TB emerges when patients fail to follow treatment regimens, take substandard drugs or stop treatment too early.  Patients with MDR-TB can then transmit the disease to others.

According to the WHO, there are 120,000 new cases of MDR-TB in the Western Pacific each year, which makes up 28 percent of the global caseload.  Combined with cases in southeast Asia, all MDR-TB cases in Asia make up 58 percent of the global caseload.

Number of drug-resistant TB cases, 2007

• India – 131,000
• China – 112,000
• Russia – 43,000
• Bangladesh – 15,000
• South Africa – 16,000

TB killed 1.8 million people across the world in 2008, or a person every 20 seconds. It is not only a scourge in poor countries but also in the West, where it has flared anew in the last 20 years because of AIDS, which weakens the immune system.

WHO report: more than 5 million in developing countries receiving HIV treatment

Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a press release praising a dramatic increase in access to HIV treatment in developing countries, while advising earlier adoption of treatment to reduce mortality.

According to the WHO, an estimated 5.2 million people in low and middle-income countries were receiving life-saving HIV treatment at the end of 2009 — an increase of 1.2 million from 2008.  To further build on this push to fight HIV/AIDS, the WHO recommended that HIV+ patients begin treatment sooner, as that could reduce related mortality by an estimated 20%.  Earlier treatment can prevent opportunistic infections including tuberculosis (TB), the number one killer of people with HIV. Deaths from TB can be reduced by as much as 90%, if people with both HIV and TB start treatment earlier.

19 JULY 2010 | GENEVA | VIENNA — An estimated 5.2 million people in low and middle-income countries were receiving life-saving HIV treatment at the end of 2009, according to the latest update from WHO.

WHO estimates that 1.2 million people started treatment in 2009, bringing the total number of people receiving treatment to 5.2 million, compared to 4 million at the end of 2008.

“This is the largest increase in people accessing treatment in a single year. It is an extremely encouraging development,” says Dr Hiroki Nakatani, WHO Assistant Director-General for HIV, Tuberculosis, Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases.

At the XVIII International AIDS Conference, WHO is calling for earlier treatment for people with HIV. The objective is to begin HIV treatment before they become ill because of weakened immunity.

“Starting treatment earlier gives us an opportunity to enable people living with HIV to stay healthier and live longer,” says Dr Gottfried Hirnschall, WHO Director of HIV/AIDS.

Estimates developed through epidemiological modeling suggest that HIV-related mortality can be reduced by 20% between 2010 and 2015 if these guidelines for early treatment are broadly implemented.

Earlier treatment can prevent opportunistic infections including tuberculosis (TB), the number one killer of people with HIV. Deaths from TB can be reduced by as much as 90%, if people with both HIV and TB start treatment earlier.

The strength of a person’s immune system is measured by CD4 cells. A healthy person has a CD4 count of 1000 – 1500 cells/mm3. WHO previously recommended starting HIV treatment when a person’s CD4 count drops below 200 cells/mm3 but now advises starting HIV treatment at 350 cells/mm3 or below.

“In addition to saving lives, earlier treatment also has prevention benefits,” Dr Hirnschall says. “Because treatment reduces the level of virus in the body, it means HIV-positive people are less likely to pass the virus on to their partners.”

WHO’s treatment guidelines expand the number of people recommended for HIV treatment from an estimated 10 million to an estimated 15 million. The cost needed for HIV treatment in 2010 will be about US$ 9 billion, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

“The investments we make today can not only save millions of lives but millions of dollars tomorrow,” said Dr Bernhard Schwartlander, Director, Evidence, Strategy and Results, UNAIDS. “People with weaker immune systems who come late for treatment require more complex and costly drugs and services than those who start treatment earlier and are healthier.

Since 2003 – which marked the launch of the historic “3 by 5” initiative to provide access to HIV treatment to 3 million people living in low- and middle-income countries by the end of 2005 – the number of people receiving HIV treatment has increased 12-fold.

At AIDS 2010, WHO is releasing the 2010 guidelines on Antiretroviral treatment of HIV infection in adults and adolescents – public health approach.

Fighting neglected diseases: anti-TB compounds offer hope

Compounds being developed against tuberculosis also show promise against deadly tropical diseases threatening millions of people.  As reported by Reuters, the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development has granted the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) rights to develop a class of potential anti-TB compounds offering hope of treating Chagas disease, African sleeping sickness and leishmaniasis.

Chagas, a disease caused by a parasite found mainly in rural areas of Latin America, kills some 14,000 people annually and an estimated 8 million are infected. Infection is lifelong and can lead to heart disease and heart failure. Some 100 million people are deemed at risk of the disease.

Leishmaniasis and sleeping sickness, formally known as human African trypanosomiasis, each kill roughly 50,000 people a year and pose a threat to a combined total of 400 million people.

The Gates Foundation is providing a $1.5 million grant to DNDi for preclinical assessments of compounds specifically for use against visceral leishmaniasis, a deadly parasitic infection spread by the bite of a sandfly.

Though found in Europe, Asia and Africa, leishmaniasis is most concentrated in India. An estimated 350 million people worldwide are deemed at risk from infection.

Customs groups commit to fight counterfeit drug industry

Counterfeit drugs have become a $200-billion-a-year industry and the 176-nation World Customs Organisation (WCO) will sign a declaration later this month to fight the scourge, an official said on Thursday (Source:  Reuters).

Fake or substandard versions of medicines are often hidden in cargoes sent on circuitous routes to mask their country of origin. “We have more fakes than real drugs in the market,” said Christophe Zimmermann, the WCO’s anti-counterfeiting and piracy coordinator. “In 2007-2008 alone, it rose 596 percent.”

The World Trade Organisation says fake anti-malaria drugs kill 100,000 Africans a year and the black market deprives governments of 2.5-5 percent of their revenue.

The Brussels-based WCO represents customs operations globally and has joined with former French president’s Jacques Chirac’s foundation to raise awareness at upper echelons to curtail the illicit industry.

Fake medicines often contain the wrong or toxic ingredients and pose a growing health threat worldwide, especially in poor countries where drugs are sold to treat conditions such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV.

“If these subjects are not dealt with and strong action not taken, they will be a source of conflict,” said Catherine Joubert, director general of the Fondation Chirac, adding that so far 30 groups had signed the declaration.

In a sign Europe is taking the issue seriously too, justice ministers on the Council of Europe are set to ratify a convention on counterfeit medicines in Istanbul this November.

Progress in Health: a WHO report on health-related MDGs

The World Health Organization recently released a progress report towards the achievement of the health-related Millennium Development Goals.  Highlights of progress (all goals and targets are measured in terms of progress since 1990) include:

• Fewer children are dying. Annual global deaths of children under five years of age fell to 8.8 million in 2008 – down by 30% since 1990.
• Fewer children are underweight. The percentage of underweight children under five years old is estimated to have dropped from 25% in 1990 to 16% in 2010.
• More women get skilled help during childbirth. The proportion of births attended by a skilled health worker has increased globally, however, in the WHO Africa and South-East Asia regions fewer than 50% of all births were attended.
• Fewer people are contracting HIV. New HIV infections have declined by 16% globally from 2001–2008.
• Tuberculosis treatment is more successful. Existing cases of TB are declining, along with deaths among HIV-negative TB cases.
• More people have safe drinking-water, but not enough have toilets. The world is on track to achieve the MDG target on access to safe drinking-water but more needs to be done to achieve the sanitation target.