Rapid Fire
Advancements in TB Care
- 09 Dec 2023
- 1 min read
The Union World Conference on Lung Health in 2023 heralded an optimistic turn in the fight against tuberculosis (TB) with the unveiling of four new improved drug regimens, promising to reduce treatment time for drug-resistant TB by up to two-thirds.
- The long duration of treatment, and subsequent drug toxicity, leads to patients being unable to tolerate drugs, and also causes non compliance with treatment schedules. This ultimately leads to drug resistant TB.
- With a mission to offer more effective treatment, these regimens exhibit similar efficacy and safety to conventional treatments but significantly reduce treatment time.
- TB is an infectious disease that most often affects the lungs and is caused by the bacteria- Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It spreads through the air when infected people cough, sneeze or spit.
- According to WHO, Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) remains a public health crisis and a health security threat. Only about 2 in 5 people with drug resistant TB accessed treatment in 2022.
