TAG: An Activist’s Guide to Tuberculosis Drugs
The guide provides a summary of safety and efficacy data for drugs currently in use to treat TB. It also highlights research and access gaps for advocacy by activists, clinicians, and others working in TB.
Tuberculosis (TB) has been curable for decades, but a rise in the number of people living with MDRTB and TB/HIV coinfection challenges global targets of zero TB deaths, new infections, suffering, and stigma. Although TB and the people it affects have changed over the years, for the most part the drugs used against it have not. In 2012, bedaquiline, used to treat drug-resistant TB (DR-TB), became the first new TB drug from a new class to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in over 40 years; its approval was followed in 2014 by the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA’s) approval of another new drug, delamanid, for the treatment of DR-TB.
Bedaquiline, delamanid, and other new treatment options in development must be used in combination for the treatment of TB. They are currently being combined with existing drugs, for which significant knowledge and access gaps still exist. Research on the safety and efficacy of older drugs continues to be limited, especially in children and people with HIV. Issues beyond the sparsely populated research pipeline also impede effective treatment: patent restrictions, pricing issues, medication quality concerns, and poor supply management limit access to lifesaving drugs.
TB treatment must be shorter, simpler, less toxic, and more tolerable and affordable. Activists can contribute to the development and uptake of improved TB treatment by calling attention to research, quality of medications, and access priorities. This guide provides a brief summary of safety and efficacy data for those drugs currently in use for TB (many of which have been approved for other diseases but are used off-label for TB), and suggests advocacy points for activists. For a comprehensive overview of drug patent and pricing information, refer to Médecins Sans Frontières’ annual report, DR-TB Drugs Under the Microscope.
Download the guide from here.
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Webinar: Treatment Action Group (TAG), in partnership with the HIV Online Provider Education (HOPE) program and Harvard University Center for AIDS Research, will host a webinar, The TB Arsenal: Know Your Drugs, to orient participants to the guide and to discuss key research and access issues for TB medicines. To learn how you can contribute to the development and uptake of improved TB treatment by calling attention to research, quality of medications, and access priorities, please join us on Tuesday, June 10th at 8:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Daylight Time
**Click the link below on the day of the conference**
Registration or RSVP NOT required
https://cfar.webex.com/cfar/k2/j.php?MTID=tfd95a8d30f431aafe61e13ca714e44df
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About TAG
Treatment Action Group is an independent AIDS research and policy think tank fighting for better treatment, a vaccine, and a cure for AIDS. TAG works to ensure that all people with HIV receive lifesaving treatment, care, and information. We are science-based treatment activists working to expand and accelerate vital research and effective community engagement with research and policy institutions. TAG catalyzes open collective action by all affected communities, scientists, and policy makers to end AIDS.
Source: Treatment Action Group
