TB day: A reminder that challenges remain
22.03.13
EFPIA's Director General, Richard Bergström, puts forward the many challenges that remain.
To many of us, Tuberculosis may seem like a disease of the past – a problem for which a solution has been found, and no longer a need for concern. Unfortunately, this is far from true: TB still infects 9 million people every year and kills 1.7 million – more than any other infectious disease, apart from HIV. What’s more, we are facing a new threat in the form of Multi-Drug-Resistant TB, or MDR-TB. Sunday will be TB day, giving us a chance to pause and reflect on the accomplishments of science in combating this illness – and also to consider the challenges we still face in effectively eradicating it.
First, the good news: The overall prevalence of TB has indeed decreased. From 1990 to 2009, TB fatalities fell by 35 percent worldwide. Since 1995, more than 51 million people have undergone successful treatment via DOTS and the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Stop TB Strategy. The result is an estimated 20 million lives saved. These are huge successes and should be celebrated. But this doesn’t mean that we – the pharmaceutical industry, researchers, and the healthcare community at large – can get complacent. Far from it.
World TB Day, March 24, marks the day that Dr. Robert Koch identified the mycobacterium that causes tuberculosis. That bacterium has changed since Koch first discovered it in 1882 – and this is a critical point of concern. As the bacterium that causes TB is changing, it is becoming resistant to many of the drugs we use to treat it – this is MDR-TB, and if we don’t find new treatments, it could become a serious public health problem.
In advance of World TB Day, the WHO highlighted the need for increased funding and research, especially in light of MDR-TB: “We are treading water at a time when we desperately need to scale up our response to MDR-TB,” stated WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan, adding “We have gained a lot of ground in TB control through international collaboration, but it can easily be lost if we do not act now.”
The good news is that the industry is working towards solutions – like the Innovative Medicine Initiative’s PREDICT-TB programme, which aims to speed up the search for new and more effective treatment combinations for TB. We need to continue to support projects like these, and the scientists and researchers working on them. The solutions they create are essential to our own healthy future.
Want to learn more?
- Discover what the Gates Foundation is doing to tackle TB
- Learn more about the Innovative Medicines Initiative’s PREDICT-TB programme
- Check out the report on TB infection and treatment in Europe from the European Centre for Disease Control
