VOL.47   /  2024.03.28

The Stop TB Partnership, Country-Level Platform Partnerships – Stories from the field of Feb 2024

On World TB Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for action on several fronts to ensure that the commitments made to end TB are achieved. A special newsletter edition compiles all WHO advocacy activities and key resources released in the lead-up to World TB Day.

The World Health Organization (WHO) released an advocacy and communications package to support awareness building and drive action across all levels, in the lead up to and on World TB Day, observed every year on 24 March. The theme of World TB Day 2024 'Yes! We can end TB!' conveys a message of hope that getting back-on-track to turn the tide against the TB epidemic is possible through high-level leadership, increased investments and faster uptake of new WHO recommendations.

The Department of Health (DOH) ,Stop TB Partnership, and USAID join hands to accelerate global TB response

Results UK released an advocacy report presenting the case for adopting a whole of society approach to ending TB. The report provides recommendations for governments, policymakers and national TB programs around the world, focused on addressing the underlying social causes of TB alongside curing the physical disease.

Nearly 7,000 excess deaths from TB occurred in the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region in the three years of the pandemic from 2020-2022, compared to what experts had expected based on pre-2020 estimates. This sobering revelation comes via the latest TB surveillance and monitoring report

Radiant Moms is a study that aims to explore the feasibility, acceptability, and perceived demand for the new 17-week RPT-MOX regimen (rifapentine, moxifloxacin, isoniazid and pyrazinamide) for pregnant and breastfeeding women among key stakeholders. For further details about the study and to access the survey, click here.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute announced that a Phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate whether the M72/AS01E TB vaccine candidate can protect adolescents and adults from pulmonary TB is now underway.

Treatment Action Group (TAG) released the 2023 TB Treatment Pipeline Report , giving a detailed overview of the latest developments in TB treatment research, tracking recent results, ongoing work to expand on recent treatment shortening successes, and the status of twenty-two new or repurposed compounds in clinical development for TB.

Treatment Action Group (TAG) and IMPAACT4TB project partners released two educational materials designed for community-based and civil society organizations to use to advocate for and teach people about TB preventive treatment (TPT). The publications can be accessed here.

In patients with TB, a novel fixed-dose combination of alpibectir-ethionamide had similar levels of bactericidal activity as isoniazid , with no serious adverse events and good tolerability, a phase 2 randomized controlled trial showed. The results were presented at CROI 2024.

The World Health Organization's latest data has highlighted the significant challenge TB continues to pose in the Philippines, revealing that in 2022, an alarming 737,000 individuals contracted TB. This translates to a new case every 43 seconds, underscoring the urgency of the situation.

Scientists have taken a major step towards developing a blood test that could identify millions of people who spread TB unknowingly. A study has discovered a group of biological markers that are found in high levels among infectious patients. The researchers hope the findings will pave the way for a simple test that can diagnose and stop the spread of the estimated 10 million cases annually.

Treatment Action Group (TAG) released an overview of TB research data reported at CROI 2024. A summary of major findings and TAG’s analysis are available here. Read also the Spotlight's analysis of TB research data reported at CROI 2024.

More than 80% of patients with TB do not have a persistent cough, despite this being seen as a key symptom of the disease. The infection is predominantly transmitted by coughing, but probably also through simply breathing. Research analyzed data on more than 600,000 individuals in Africa and Asia and found that 82.8% of those with TB had no persistent cough and 62.5% had no cough at all.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is present in exhaled breath of 90% of those presenting with suspected TB. This includes those who were negative on conventional sputum testing and not diagnosed with TB. This raises the possibility that those who have tested negative may be unknowingly transmitting the infection. Research analyzed results from over 100 patients who presented themselves to clinics in South Africa.

Global TB incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years have decreased significantly in adolescents and young adults since 1990, but the incidence of drug-resistant TB increased, researchers reported in Pediatrics.

The International Union Against TB and Lung Disease released the March 2024 issue of Public Health Action, a peer-reviewed open access journal. It contains TB-related research publications.

The International Union Against TB and Lung Disease released the March 2024 issue of the IJTLD. It contains TB-related research publications.

RESIST-TB released its March 2024 newsletter with the latest updates and research publications on drug-resistant TB.