Increasing the daily dose of rifampicin within the current TB treatment regimen from 10mg/kg to 15mg/kg and 20mg/kg did not result in an increased incidence of adverse events, according to findings from the RIFATOX trial presented at the 44th World Conference on Lung Health in Paris earlier this month.

The world needs to train more healthcare workers — and fast — according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO). The report, released November 11, estimates that the world will be short 12.9 million healthcare workers by 2035. Today, that figure stands at 7.2 million.

For months, consumer advocates have railed that the Obama administration was taking a secretive approach toward the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks and likely jeopardizing access to essential medicines throughout the Asia and the Pacific region. They warned that a restrictive deal would increase the power of the pharmaceutical industry and, eventually, bind Americans to the same terms.

Geneva, 12th November 2013 - UNITAID has expressed concern about some aspects of the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) negotiations between countries in Asia Pacific.

Dr. Edward Nardell of Harvard Medical School was sitting in his office one day when a student called to ask if he had any advice on how to avoid contracting drug-resistant tuberculosis.

A little more than four months ago, a collection of organizations and individuals concerned with the high price of rifapentine, a drug that could treat tuberculosis more quickly than other drugs, and also treat TB infection before it caused illness, wrote to Sanofi, the company that makes medicine. Noting that government funding that had made the product possible, the letter writers urged the company to lower the drug’s price.

The CRAG is giving Sanofi one week to respond to the community demands, or will escalate action!

The scourge of tuberculosis (TB) continues to take thousands of lives every day across the world.

In recent months, two countries with large economies and large populations both took steps to rework their patent laws, in part, to expand access to medicines. The moves come amid increasing concerns that treatments for certain ailments, such as AIDS and cancer, are out of reach for many people. Their actions also underscore growing tension with the pharmaceutical industry over pricing policies and an increasing willingness among some governments to rely on international trade agreements to consider compulsory licenses as a work-around solution. Brook Baker, a professor in the Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy at the Northeastern University School of Law, and a member of Health Gap, Global Access Project, suggests other countries may be emboldened to do the same.