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WHO urged to fast track new TB drugs<TABLE style="WIDTH: 405px; HEIGHT: 44px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=caption style="WIDTH: 360px">
October 30 2006 at 03:02PM </TD></TR><TR><TD style="HEIGHT: 1px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #cccccc" colSpan=2></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=23 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=svarticletext>[SIZE=+1][/SIZE]
Geneva - The international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres called on the drugs companies and the regulatory authorities to fast track new treatments for what they called "the health catastrophe" of tuberculosis.
At the launch on Monday of a new study into current research into TB, MSF strongly criticised the World Health Organisation for a lack of leadership saying "relying on WHO tuberculosis strategies in the face of extensively drug resistant TB, XDR TB, will be fatal."
WHO, which launched its own report calling for improved research and development into TB drugs, earlier in October, says 1,7-million people a year die from TB every year, while there are 450 000 new cases of drug resistant strains of TB every year.
"It is no secret that we are here because very little research into TB has been carried out in recent decades," Dr Rowan Gillies, President of MSF International Council told journalists.
<!--pull quote --><TABLE cellSpacing=6 cellPadding=0 width=130 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=pullquote>'Rely on drugs to treat TB that were developed 40 years ago'</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!--pull quote end -->MSF treated 17 000 TB cases a year in developing countries and had seen its success rate decline in the face of spreading drug resistance.
"We still rely on drugs to treat TB that were developed 40 years ago and take six months for patients to complete which is a problem in developing countries with a poor health infrastructure."
He said WHO had to show greater leadership in tackling "the major health crisis of today," to push for new drugs development.
Dr Tido von Schoen-Angerer, Director MSF Campaign for Access to Essential Medecines, called on the pharmaceutical companies to do more saying there was still just six drugs for TB in the pipeline compared with 150 for cardio-vascular illnesses.
- Sapa-dpa http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=qw1162209420380B232
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October 30 2006 at 03:02PM </TD></TR><TR><TD style="HEIGHT: 1px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #cccccc" colSpan=2></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=23 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=svarticletext>[SIZE=+1][/SIZE]
Geneva - The international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres called on the drugs companies and the regulatory authorities to fast track new treatments for what they called "the health catastrophe" of tuberculosis.
At the launch on Monday of a new study into current research into TB, MSF strongly criticised the World Health Organisation for a lack of leadership saying "relying on WHO tuberculosis strategies in the face of extensively drug resistant TB, XDR TB, will be fatal."
WHO, which launched its own report calling for improved research and development into TB drugs, earlier in October, says 1,7-million people a year die from TB every year, while there are 450 000 new cases of drug resistant strains of TB every year.
"It is no secret that we are here because very little research into TB has been carried out in recent decades," Dr Rowan Gillies, President of MSF International Council told journalists.
<!--pull quote --><TABLE cellSpacing=6 cellPadding=0 width=130 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=pullquote>'Rely on drugs to treat TB that were developed 40 years ago'</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!--pull quote end -->MSF treated 17 000 TB cases a year in developing countries and had seen its success rate decline in the face of spreading drug resistance.
"We still rely on drugs to treat TB that were developed 40 years ago and take six months for patients to complete which is a problem in developing countries with a poor health infrastructure."
He said WHO had to show greater leadership in tackling "the major health crisis of today," to push for new drugs development.
Dr Tido von Schoen-Angerer, Director MSF Campaign for Access to Essential Medecines, called on the pharmaceutical companies to do more saying there was still just six drugs for TB in the pipeline compared with 150 for cardio-vascular illnesses.
- Sapa-dpa http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=qw1162209420380B232
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