Background on Tuberculosis
Despite being a preventable and curable infectious disease, tuberculosis (TB) is more prevalent in the world today than in any other time in human history. Seven to eight million new cases and two to three million deaths are reported annually. TB is dramatically increasing in developing countries with high rates of HIV infection, which lowers immunity against TB.
The currently available treatment is not sufficiently effective. The last new TB drug was introduced in 1961. In today's fast paced world patients find it increasingly difficult to comply with the standard 6 month short-course treatment supervised drug intake needed to cure TB.
The emergence of drug resistance has also increased the difficulty of controlling TB. Resistant TB needs prolonged treatment with multiple, relatively ineffective, expensive, potentially toxic and poorly tolerated drugs for at least 18 months. Cure from TB is no longer certain even with disciplined adherence to treatment. New and more effective anti-tuberculosis regimens are urgently needed and to combat drug resistance that is increasingly spreading around the globe.
Diverse NGOs and pharmaceutical laboratories have responded to the call to develop promising new agents and combination treatments. However, the capacity to evaluate these is insufficient globally. This is delaying the availability of a new treatments for those that need it.
