RESIST-TB released its June 2021 newsletter with the latest research publications on drug-resistant TB.

To support national and global efforts to increase access to and the affordability of TB care and treatment, the World Health Organization (WHO), together with UNICEF, UNAIDS and Unitaid, invites manufacturers of selected pharmaceutical products to submit expressions of interest for product evaluation to the WHO Prequalification Unit.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), working with the National Health Service England (NHSE), has launched a 5-year action plan to drive down tuberculosis (TB) cases in England.

Before the world was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, humanity’s deadliest infectious disease was a different respiratory illness, one that we have lived with for millennia: tuberculosis (TB). Vaccines developed and rolled out in record time are already driving a reduction in deaths due to COVID-19. Meanwhile, the outlook for TB remains dark: 4,000 people continue to die of the disease every day, including 700 children. And that curve isn’t budging. Good news in the world of TB has been in short supply this year. In fact, recent research has shown that the countries that bear the biggest TB burdens saw a drastic decrease in TB diagnosis and treatment after COVID-19 hit in late 2019. In just 18 months, the Covid pandemic and the measures taken to address it erased some 12 years of significant and measurable progress against TB. This is bad news for us all.

India has set the target of eradicating TB by 2025 and the Government is avowedly satisfied with the progress made. However, the ground reality is that India remains a top high burden country, where people fight a battle for survival on a daily basis for essential medicines.

July marks the 100-year anniversary of the Bacille Calmette-Guérin vaccine (BCG), still the only approved vaccine against TB. More than a dozen vaccines for TB are currently being tested in clinical trials: some use whole bacteria as BCG does, while others deliver protein subunits or genetic material carried by viral vectors. 

The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IJTLD) is the official publication of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union).

New research presented at this year's European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) taking place online (9-12 July) shows that individuals affected by mental illnesses including depression and schizophrenia experience an increased incidence of tuberculosis (TB).

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria signed a cooperation and financing agreement to implement 10 strategic initiatives to accelerate the end of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as epidemics and strengthen systems for health. This new agreement, which will cover the 2021-2023 implementation period, aims to address some of the persistent challenges that impede progress against the three diseases and protect hard-won gains from new pandemics like COVID-19.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is initiating the development of new guidelines on the treatment of drug-resistant TB to support countries in the programmatic management of drug-resistant TB.