4NEW TB TREATMENTS AND DIAGNOSTICS FOR CHILDREN
US$ 67.9 MILLION
INVESTED BY UNITAID
Before Unitaid’s investment, children around the world did not have access to appropriate TB medicine. Caregivers often had to cut or crush tablets intended for adults. Imprecise dosing frequently led to continued illness.
Tuberculosis is among the top 10 causes of illness and death among children, commonly passed from adults to children within the same family and household. Each year, 1 million children get sick with TB.
In 2012, Unitaid invested US$ 16.6 million in the development of child-friendly TB treatments through the STEP-TB project implemented by TB Alliance and partners.
The new fixed-dose combinations of the three most commonly used drugs to treat drug-sensitive TB are soluble, fruit-flavoured, affordable, and in the correct WHO-recommended dose.
In December 2015, affordable, appropriately formulated, first-line paediatric TB medicines were launched on the market in high TB burden countries in both the public and private sectors. In October 2016, Kenya became the first country in the world to launch the child-friendly TB medicines nationwide. As of December 2016, more than 13 countries had started to procure these new medicines. By June of 2017, more than 325,000 treatment courses had been ordered, and 56 countries with a high TB burden had adopted the fixed-dose combinations.
New projects for 2017 and beyond seek to improve TB diagnosis in children, and to gather evidence on innovative models of care for childhood TB in areas such as HIV clinics, nutrition wards and mother-and-child clinics.
“Childhood TB is a problem that can be solved when we choose to act. We need to make sure all children with TB are diagnosed and treated with the best medicines possible. I’m proud to say Kenya adopted these new products for our children immediately, which will greatly improve our response to treating drug-sensitive TB.” Dr. Enos Masini National Tuberculosis Programme Manager, Kenya