The Stop TB Partnership released its July 2020 newsletter, summarizing the initiatives and activities carried out during the month.

29 July 2020 | GENEVA - The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Stop TB Partnership’s New Diagnostics Working Group (NDWG) launched today a framework for the evaluation of new tests for tuberculosis infection. The document provides details on study design, populations, reference standards, sample size calculation and data analysis to guide the future development of these tests.

A technical brief for policymakers and program implementers - a joint effort of the Global Coalition of TB Activists, the Stop TB Partnership and the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.

20 July 2020, Geneva, Switzerland- The Stop TB Partnership and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) today launched an online resource center of computer-aided detection (CAD) products for the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB): www.ai4hlth.org.

The Stop TB Partnership’s TB REACH announced approval of 13 new Wave 8 projects to engage private providers in the fight against TB for a total of USD 5.7 million. 

Stop TB Partnership and Johnson & Johnson, with support from USAID and the Global Fund, announce price reduction for bedaquiline for treatment of drug-resistant TB in low- and middle-income countries.

The Stop TB Partnership dedicates the call for the 2020 Kochon Prize nominations to all the nurses on the frontline fight against TB.

The Stop TB Partnership announced the successful grantees under the Round 9 of the Challenge Facility for Civil Society 2020, which will support 31 organizations from 13 countries and six regions with grants ranging from USD 20 000 to USD 100 000,  for a total of USD 2,5 million.

11 June 2020, Geneva, Switzerland– The Stop TB Partnership’s Global Drug Facility (GDF) today announced the addition of child-friendly bedaquiline 20 mg tablets to the GDF Pediatric DR-TB Initiative. The US FDA approval of the medicine, on 27 May 2020, marks a new milestone for all-oral DR-TB regimens in children who are older than 5 years of age and weighing more than 15 kilograms. These children will now benefit from the same optimized treatments being provided to their parents – no more injections for anyone.

10 June 2020, Geneva, Switzerland - The Stop TB Partnership today announced that its Global Drug Facility (GDF) will distribute 100,000 Xpert® Xpress SARS-CoV-2 tests donated by Cepheid towards the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Xpert® Xpress SARSCoV-2 is a rapid molecular diagnostic test for the qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19. The test has been designed to operate on any of the more than 23,000 GeneXpert® Systems worldwide, with a detection time of approximately 45 minutes.