MSF report says fixing TB drug supply and price problems is urgent

A promising new diagnostic test will finally help detect more people with drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB), increasing the urgency to solve major problems around the pricing and supply of DR-TB medicines, according to a new report by the international medical humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), launched to coincide with World TB Day yesterday.

DR-TB is on the rise, but less than 7% of 440,000 new cases each year receive treatment, and DR-TB kills 150,000 people annually, according to the World Health Organization.

The treatment of DR-TB relies on old antibiotics, many of which have severe side effects, ranging from constant nausea to deafness, and must be taken as complex regimens - patients must take up to 17 pills every day for up to two years. However, these are the only drugs that exist today that can tackle DR-TB. MSF’s report shows that these drugs are riddled with persistent supply and price problems that must be urgently addressed.