-
South Africa: Life-Saving TB Drug Is Now Cheaper - But Not As Cheap As It Could Be
GroundUp, 27 October 2023
Johnson & Johnson has agreed to drop the price of bedaquiline to the South African government by more than 40% Read more »
-
Africa: Breakthrough Promises Improved Access to TB Treatment Across Africa
allAfrica, 1 October 2023
An American drug manufacturer has taken an important step to open the way to improved access to the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) across Africa. Read more »
-
Africa: U.S. Drug Company Eases Access to Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Treatment
JNJ, 1 October 2023
Company continues to be focused on addressing perceived barriers to access and refocusing global efforts on the most-pressing barrier to access: underdiagnosis of the disease. Read more »
-
Africa: New Global Action Pledge to End TB By 2030
UN News, 22 September 2023
Applause rang out in one of the main conference rooms at UN headquarters on Friday as world leaders, civil society representatives and other stakeholders approved a declaration to… Read more »
Breakthrough Promises Improved Access to TB Treatment in Africa
A United States drug manufacturer has taken an important step to open the way to improved access to the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) across Africa, AllAfrica reports.
Johnson & Johnson announced on September 29 that it will no longer enforce patents for the drug bedaquiline, which it sells as SIRTURO, in 134 low- and middle-income countries. Its announcement frees companies making generic versions of the drug to manufacture them at lower prices without fear of being sued for doing so.
The announcement has been hailed by the humanitarian medical care NGO, Médecins Sans Frontières, as a "huge success" resulting from campaigns by TB activists, civil society and countries which "prioritis[e] public health over corporations' interests."
In South Africa, bedaquiline has been provided by the South African government since 2018.In July, J&J agreed to sell bedaquiline to lower and middle-income countries through the Stop TB Partnership's Global Drug Facility for $130 (R2,470) per six-month regime, but South Africa does not make use of this facility due to national procurement policies. Instead, about the same time that J&J made this announcement, the National Health Department agreed to pay J&J R5,500 for the drug.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, addresses the second high-level United Nations meeting on the fight against tuberculosis, September 22, 2023.
InFocus
-
Research to establish the various factors for the higher rates of Tuberculosis (TB) and death among men, compared to women in South Africa, has been conducted by Mmamapudi Kubjane, ... Read more »
-
A new trial in India, called Reducing Activation of Tuberculosis by Improvement of Nutritional Status (RATIONS), aimed to determine the effect of nutritional supplementation on new ... Read more »
-
The uptake and continuation of tuberculosis preventive therapy were much higher when it was provided through a community-based model compared to the standard clinic-based model, a ... Read more »
-
The cost of the drug, rifapentine, will be cut from U.S.$45 to $15 dollars for a recommended three-month course of treatment in 100 nations - including 48 in Africa - where TB is a ... Read more »
