The case of a man claiming he picked up tuberculosis while in prison through the negligence of prison authorities will be heard in the Constitutional Court later this month.

On August 7, 2012, the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), UNITAID, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced an agreement that will significantly reduce the cost of the rapid TB diagnostic test Xpert MTB/RIF (commonly referred to as GeneXpert)  in 145 high-burden and developing countries. ACTION issues the following statement in response:

A research article by Katharina Kranzer from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and colleagues describe the feasibility and costs of an active tuberculosis case finding project in Cape Town, South Africa.

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) improves the outcome of tuberculosis (TB) treatment in the HIV/TB co-infected population, an updated systematic review and meta-analysis confirms.

Epistem has announced that it has reached agreement with Becton Dickinson for the supply and distribution of its Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) test on a global basis (excluding India and the Indian Sub Continent) using its Genedrive™ platform. The TB supply and distribution agreement includes an upfront payment of $1m with further milestone payments of up to $3m, alongside escalating supply volumes over the next 5 years.

Call for further price cuts on cartridges and machines to realize goals of zero TB deaths.

HIV & AIDS treatment in practice (HATIP) is a regular email newsletter for healthcare workers and community-based organisations on HIV treatment in resource-limited settings.

In early July, Janssen Research and Development, part of the New Jersey drug giant Johnson & Johnson, announced that it had requested US approval of a new compound called bedaquiline to treat multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). If approved by the country's Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the medication would be the first tuberculosis drug with a new mechanism of action in four decades, as well as the only drug specifically indicated for MDR-TB, which roughly 650,000 people are living with worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

PEPFAR, USAID, UNITAID and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have finalized an agreement to expand access to GeneXpert®, a molecular diagnostic system that provides a two-hour rapid diagnosis of TB, TB/HIV co-infection and drug-resistant TB.

One wears a prim white bonnet. Another sticks out its tongue, hands resting over abdomen. A third clutches at its chest, mouth seemingly frozen in a scream. They are faces from the past, trapped in the appearance they bore when laid to rest nearly 300 years ago.