TB 3HP

A quarter of the world’s population is infected with latent TB. They have no symptoms, are not contagious and most do not know they are infected. Without treatment, up to 10% of them will develop active TB, the form which makes people ill and can spread from person to person. People living with HIV are at greater risk of getting infected and dying of active TB.

A landmark agreement by Unitaid, the Global Fund and pharmaceutical company Sanofi has cut by 70 percent the price of rifapentine, a drug used to prevent tuberculosis (TB), for millions of people in low- and medium-income countries where the epidemic is at its worst. A generic manufacturer will also offer rifapentine-based 3HP treatment for the same reduced price, helping to secure supplies and meet anticipated demand.

The development boosts efforts to treat latent TB infection, enabling scale-up of preventive therapy from 2021.

Availability of the treatment will lead to higher completion rates, lower incidence of multidrug resistant strains of the disease (MDR-TB), and a reduced burden on health systems.