PHA-Exch> Program launched to counter TB drug shortfalls

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Vern Weitzel vern at coombs.anu.edu.au
 "[health-vn discussion group]"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071008/hl_nm/tuberculosis_dc;_ylt=AnQDTSqnwLsfoBhlh_b6ytYQ.3QA

Program launched to counter TB drug shortfalls


GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) and an international
initiative launched a program on Monday to provide anti-tuberculosis drugs
to
people in poor countries who are unable to cover their full medical needs.

The $26.8 million program will deliver drugs to around 750,000 people in 19
countries, covering their anti-tuberculosis drug needs for the rest of this
year
and 2008, the Stop TB Partnership, hosted by the WHO, and the UNITAID
initiative
said in a joint statement.

The initiative will provide drugs to countries expanding their TB control
efforts and that have been promised support from the Global Fund to Fight
AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria or another donor, but do not yet have the funds.

A six-month course of treatment for TB for someone of average weight costs
$20.

TB and AIDS are the main health threats in Africa and are closely linked,
with
victims of one often vulnerable to the other.

Worldwide, 8.8 million new cases of TB and 1.6 million deaths from it occur
each
year. If left untreated, TB can develop into drug-resistant strains.

"This is the first line to prevent the creation of drug resistance," Marcos
Espinal, executive secretary of the Stop TB Partnership, told a news
conference.

The project is restricted to anti-TB treatments suitable for people whose TB
is
not resistant to standard therapies. It will also allow the creation of a
stockpile of anti-TB drugs.

The drugs are sourced from four generics manufacturers in India, said Robert
Matiru, operations manager of the Stop TB Partnership's Global Drugs
Facility.

They are Lupin, Cadila, Sandoz India and Svizera Europe, he said.

The project will provide first-line TB drugs to Bangladesh, Bosnia, Burkina
Faso, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Iraq, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali,
Mozambique, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tajikistan, Gambia, Togo and
Uganda.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://phm.phmovement.org/pipermail/phm-exchange-phmovement.org/attachments/20071010/ec787a76/attachment-0001.html>