Strengthening TB research in NIAID's TB Strategic Plan

July 17, 2018 – Treatment Action Group (TAG) submitted comments to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) in response to a public request for information (RFI) to inform NIAID's TB Strategic Plan on supporting TB research and development (R&D).

View or download the comment. 

This comment calls on NIAID to build on its leadership as the single largest funder of TB R&D to further deepen its commitment to catalyze the research necessary to upend the global and domestic TB epidemic. In particular this comment recommends NIAID to: 

• Ensure the necessary inclusion of pregnant and lactating women into TB research and trials to inform appropriate, safe and effective therapeutic and prevention options.

• Leverage their position as the world's leading funder of TB R&D by expanding additional resources to support ongoing and prospective research, and synergize with other U.S. government agencies involved in TB research.

• Expand clinical trial site capacity to speed trial enrollment and results reporting for both TB vaccine and TB drug/drug regimen trials.

• Build capacity for effective community engagement within TB clinical trial research design and implementation, as NIAID has done successfully within HIV research.

• Uphold principles of applicability, affordability, and human rights in ensuring unfettered access to prospective tools to address TB that result from NIAID-led and funded research.

TAG lauds NIAID for its critical leadership in funding the research strategy needed to combat world's leading infectious killer, and look forward to advancing advocacy on supporting the ambitious goals of this opportune strategic plan in a time of significant global political attention to TB. 

Source: Treatment Action Group