The European Commission has today (November 21) made a call for proposals that are working towards the development of vaccine for tuberculosis. The call is for preclinical and early clinical research into a TB vaccine and is worth up to €25 million.

Isoniazid preventive therapy lowered the risk of tuberculosis more than 25% in a large cluster-randomized trial of HIV-positive people in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Isoniazid cut the risk of TB or death 30%.

Background:

Approval of and access to delamanid are crucial while further research is pending.

The European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has recommended the authorisation of Deltyba (delamanid) and Para-aminosalicylic acid Lucane (para-aminosalicylic acid), two treatment options for use in combination with other medicines against multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.

The TB community - clearly driven by TB/HIV activism - is now calling for a global effort to eliminate TB: "We are demanding that you all in this room have vision, that you all in this room decide that we are not going to control TB, but we are going to eliminate TB." (Colleen Daniels, TAG)

TB is linked with a deadly silicosis epidemic hidden for decades in rural South Africa. Gold mining firms must make amends, says Jaine Roberts.

How do you reach the three million people who become ill with tuberculosis every year, but go undetected, suffering and dying needlessly, while infecting others? The answer is simple: take a risk. TB REACH, a program of the Stop TB Partnership, has embraced the “inherent risk of innovation” to find new, more effective approaches to TB case detection, which are tailored uniquely to reach different vulnerable populations.

Bipartisan, bicameral legislation extends U.S. Leadership Act, confirming ongoing commitments to PEPFAR and the Global Fund as well as to bilateral responses to AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

CAPE TOWN – The much-anticipated process of public submissions into the draft South Africa National Intellectual Property Policy has come to a close. The country’s trade minister says the office is busy collating the 100 documents submitted by interested stakeholders and plans to submit a formal policy to cabinet for approval in the first quarter of next year.