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THE
BATTLE ON DRUG-RESISTANT TB &
HIV: SOROS & HEALTH GROUPS
PARTNER (MaximsNews.com,
U.N.)
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According to the groups, extremely drug-resistant
tuberculosis (XDR-TB) threatens to reverse progress in fighting HIV/AIDS,
especially in sub-Saharan Africa, and has emerged as a top priority for world
health officials.
“Right now, XDR-TB is considered a death sentence, but it
doesn’t have to be,” said Soros, chairman and founder of the Open Society
Institute (OSI).
Soros announced the foundation’s $3 million grant to help
health care workers in Lesotho, a small southern African country, more
effectively treat people dually infected with drug-resistant TB and
HIV/AIDS.
Building on the Lesotho project, Partners In Health (PIH) and
Brigham and Women’s Hospital will pioneer development of the first global
treatment guidelines for this deadly combination of disease.
“I hope that my contribution will catalyze action and
funding to curb this global emergency before more lives are lost,” added
Soros.
“The Lesotho program must be part of a much larger effort
to provide TB treatment to the millions who need it—and that means wealthy
governments must dig into their coffers,” he said.
The World Health Organization reports that XDR-TB has been
found in 28 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada,
Japan and every other member state of the Group of 8.
But Dr. Jim Yong Kim, co-founder of PIH and former director
of the WHO’s department on HIV/AIDS, said the epidemic could be much more
pervasive.
“Most countries in sub-Saharan Africa do not have the
laboratory capacity to diagnose XDR-TB, so it is likely what we are seeing now
is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Dr. Kim, who is based at Brigham and
Women’s Hospital, Harvard University, and the Francois Xavier Bagnoud Center
for Health and Human Rights.
New evidence highlights the growing danger of XDR-TB for
people who are HIV-positive.
At an international scientific conference in Los Angeles two
weeks ago, researchers reported that 85 percent of South Africans who had both
diseases died.
The treatment program will be piloted in Lesotho, a small
country bordering South Africa’s Kwa-Zulu Natal province.
Last August, an XDR-TB outbreak in that province killed 52 of
53 patients—half within just 16 days.
With one of the three highest HIV prevalence rates and the
fifth highest rate of TB in the world, Lesotho would be particularly vulnerable
to the rapid spread of XDR-TB.
“The growth of XDR-TB highlights a global failure to
prevent and treat basic TB,” said Dr. Paul Farmer, the co-founder of PIH, who
is based at Harvard University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
“TB can be treated with a simple, inexpensive drug regimen.
But when we fail to do this well, TB becomes drug-resistant,” he said.
In 2005, there were 9 million new cases of TB. The WHO
estimates that $5 billion is needed for 2007 to strengthen basic TB control,
which is the best way to prevent strains of XDR-TB from developing.
“XDR-TB represents a major threat to the people of
sub-Saharan Africa,” said Dr. Kim. “Our health care workers on the front
lines of this co-epidemic must have the tools to treat XDR-TB and contain its
further spread.”
In addition to the global need for basic TB control, WHO is
calling for $650 million in immediate emergency funding to combat XDR-TB.
However, this figure does not include some critical elements
of effective control for drug-resistant TB, such as strengthening laboratory
capacity.
Recently, the Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu sent an open
letter to the U.S. Congress requesting $300 million in emergency funds to help
fight XDR-TB in Africa.
“This new collaboration between Lesotho, Partners In Health
and Open Society Institute is an important step in addressing XDR-TB and
HIV/AIDS in southern Africa,” said Right Honorable Minister Dr. Mphu
Ramatlapeng, Senator and Minister of Health and Social Welfare for Lesotho.
“It is a positive development, and one that the international community must
build on quickly.”
Fact sheets on XDR-TB and on OSI's history of commitment to
TB treatment are available below.
For more information contact: Amy Weil, Open Society
Institute, aweil@sorosny.org,
1-212-548-0381; Jennifer Watson, Partners In Health, Brigham and Women’s
Hospital jwatson@partners.org,
1-617-432-6935; Jove Oliver, RESULTS Educational Fund, joliver@results.org,
1-202-783-7100 x120.
~~~~~
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