The World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday that three out of 10 cases of global tuberculosis (TB) are still in Africa in spite of efforts to eradicate the disease.
According to the WHO, the new focus will help to break the chain of transmission of the disease. It urged the private sector, individuals, families and communities to be involved in TB control, saying healthcare providers and the public sector alone would not be able to eradicate the disease.
Meanwhile, global health leaders from 25 nations are in Seattle this week to work on the problem of drug-resistant tuberculosis. The Pacific Health Summit connects science, industry and policy and meets every June to discuss how scientific advances can be combined with government policies to prevent, detect and treat the disease.
Furthermore, Johnson & Johnson said on Wednesday it has joined with the nonprofit Global Alliance for TB Drug Development to speed commercialization of its experimental tuberculosis drug, known as TMC207.
The drug, designed to interfere with an enzyme needed by the bacteria responsible for tuberculosis to store energy, could become the first TB medicine with a new mechanism of action in 40 years.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
