TB PRACTECAL TRIALS | MSF (2018)
The Kwa Zulu Natal province of South Africa is one of the most affected areas in the world when it comes to Tuberculosis. According to the World Health Organisation tuberculosis kills more than 1.7 million people worldwide each year while another 9 million suffer from the disease, making it one of the 10 deadliest diseases in the world.
Treating uncomplicated cases of TB takes a minimum of 6 months. When resistance to the treatment occurs patients are considered to have Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (DR-TB).
Standard treatment for DR-TB is a long and strenuous process and is only effective 50% of the time. It involves painful daily injections of antibiotics and can last up to 30 months. This treatment can cause various worrying side effects including hearing loss, blindness, as well as psychosis to only name a few.
New treatment options are desperately needed.
This is what THINK (the Tuberculosis and HIV Investigative NetworK) has been doing in partnership with MSF in Pietermaritzburg. As part of the TB Practecal Trial they are trying to improve DR TB treatment by making it shorter, more effective and injection free.
Find out more about THINK and TBPractecal here:
https://www.msf.org.uk/tb-practecal