“Investment in the development of new tools (diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines), followed by the rapid introduction of new tools in actual program activities, holds out the prospect of faster progress in TB control in future”.
In conjunction with the release of the UN Millennium Project Overview in January 2005, the Project’s Working Group on TB recently published a report, “Investing in strategies to reverse the global incidence of TB”. This report was presented to the Dutch Government last month, and coincided with presentation of the reports and recommendations to the Secretary General of the UN, Kofi Annan.
Outlining six practical recommendations to halt and reverse the global TB epidemic, the Working Group stresses that advancing the development of new tools is a critical step to attaining this goal. Citing the work of organizations such as the TB Alliance, FIND and Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation, the report provides a brief update on the state of R&D into new technologies at present.
In explaining the urgent need for new tools to combat the rise of TB worldwide, the report cites a recent epidemiological study coordinated by the TB Alliance and overseen by the KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation. The study examines the impact of a shorter two-month regimen on mortality, compared with the standard six-month regimen in treatment programs. One key finding from this study is the possibility that a new drug, if introduced in 2012, could avert as many as 12.8 million deaths. At the same time, adding a new TB drug to the DOTS regimen would amplify its impact, and represents an excellent example of combining the best of health systems and technologies to create maximum impact on public health.
Finally, the Working Group makes the following recommendations to ensure that the search for new TB diagnostics will be continually strengthened:
- Donor agencies should increase investments in R&D of new and affordable TB tools;
- Stop TB and WHO should advocate for these investments to complement their access and treatment efforts;
- Regulatory agencies should help harmonize streamlined requirements for introducing new tools, and
- Stop TB partners should work to ensure that new tools respond to the greatest demands of users, and should expedite testing and roll-out in high-burden settings.
Governments and philanthropic institutions have played a leading role in supporting public-partnerships for new TB tools such as the TB Alliance, FIND and AERAS and addressing the cycles of poverty caused by infectious disease. Continuation of such support is crucial to attain the MDGs, especially since $7 billion will be needed to meet health targets alone.