South Africa: the country where political leadership serves the people
In an unprecedented and historic move, South African Department of Health decided to recommend including bedaquiline as the standard treatment for patients with drug-resistant TB (DR-TB). The country also released data showing that treatment regimens including bedaquiline reduced mortality three-fold compared with those without bedaquiline.
20 June 2018, Geneva Switzerland – The
Department of Health of South Africa
extended access to
bedaquiline
to all patients with DR-TB, including patients with
multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) who will now receive the drug as
part of a more patient-friendly short regimen, marking a
significant shift in how the country’s political
leadership engages with people who have TB. For the first time,
an injection-free* regimen will be made available to all
patients with DR-TB. Following this decision, bedaquiline
will be made available to patients suffering from resistance to
the strongest anti-TB medicine, rifampicin and not as was the
case previously only to extensively drug-resistant TB patients
or those with limited treatment options.
"South Africa will now make bedaquiline available to all
eligible DR-TB patients, and for the first time in history, an
injection-free regimen will be made available to all patients
with DR-TB. Additionally, patients with MDR-TB will also receive
this effective medicine as part of the patient-friendly nine
months short regimen, which is expected to improve adherence
further and ensure even successful outcomes,” said H.E.
Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi, South African Minister of Health and Stop
TB Partnership Board Chair.
South African Department of Health stated that a retrospective cohort analysis of records of all DR-TB patients receiving treatment regimens inclusive of bedaquiline were associated with a 41% increase in treatment success and a three-fold reduction in mortality compared with those that did not receive the medication.
The Executive Director of the Stop TB Partnership praised South
Africa for the “game-changing decision. South Africa
contributes to the body of evidence that introduction of
Bedaquiline is a critical component of a successful DR-TB
treatment,” she added. “As we head full speed
towards the
UN High-Level Meeting on TB
in September, South Africa is showing the way all countries must
take if we truly want the end of this devastating epidemic. I
call on President Ramaphosa to be with us in New York and
challenge other country leaders to take bold steps towards
ending TB,” Dr. Ditiu concluded.
According to latest available data, South Africa has 19,000
estimated people who developed DR-TB. See available data about
TB in South Africa on Stop TB Partnership’s
interactive online TB data dashboard.
* The injectables, also called aminoglycosides or injectable agents, cause hearing loss in as many as 50 percent of patients. Drugs in this class include amikacin, capreomycin, and kanamycin. Apart from hearing loss, patients also report that the injections are often very painful. According to current WHO guidelines, people with MDR-TB must receive an injectable unless they are tested for and show resistance or signs of hearing loss. Based on anecdotal evidence, in most resource-limited, high TB burden settings, audiometry testing to monitor for hearing loss is not implemented. As a result, patients are allowed to go deaf, even though alternative treatment options exist.
Source:
Stop TB Partnership
