TB medicines being tested at the Government Chemist and Analytical Laboratory in Wandegeya, a Kampala suburb. PHOTO BY RACHEL MABALA
In Summary
User friendly. The new drugs are dissolvable and flavoured so that they are simple for providers and parents to administer and for children to take.
Uganda will be one of the countries to benefit from the new formulation of child-friendly tuberculosis (TB) medicines to be released in 2016.
Speaking at a press conference during the 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Cape Town in South Africa yesterday, Dr Mario Raviglione, the Director, Global TB Programme, World Health Organisation (WHO), said they have talked to Uganda about the new formulation (tablet) and believe it will be registered on the essential medicines list.
In a phone interview with Daily Monitor, Dr Frank Mugabe, the programme manager of the National TB and Leprosy Programme (NTLP) at the Ministry of Health, said they are aware of the new medicine and government is in the process of purchasing it.
Dr Mugabe said the new treatment is more effective compared to the current one.
According to Dr Mel Spigelman, the President and CEO of the TB Alliance, the new medication has reduced the number of pills from five or six tablets a day to either one or two tablets depending on the child’s weight.
“The new TB medicines are fixed dose combinations (FDCs) of the three most commonly used drugs to treat drug-sensitive TB (rifampicin, isoniazid, and pyrazinamide).
“These are not new drugs, but rather improved formulations that are dissolvable and flavoured so that they are simple for providers and parents to administer and easy for children to take,” a press statement released at the event reads in part.
Dr Spigelman said the availability of correct dosages will improve treatment for children everywhere.
Background
Uganda is among the 22 TB high burden countries of the world and the Ministry of Health’s National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Programme (NTLP) statistics indicate that children under 15 years account for seven per cent of all TB cases reported each year.
According to a 2013 WHO report, 16,400 per 100,000 young children in Uganda who were in contact with TB patients had high disease prevalence.
THE numbers
$15.5
Amount (about Shs51,584) a six month’s dose of the new medicine will cost.
stumwebaze@ug.nationmedia.com
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