Today is World TB day! This year’s theme is “Yes! We Can End TB” because it is in our collective power to end tuberculosis by 2030 and reach the sdg goals.
Worldwide, one person in four carries the bacteria causing tuberculosis in his or her body. Fortunately, only part of them develop active TB. Unfortunately, they are mostly located in the poorer, less accessible areas of the world and 10% of them are children.
In recent years, a lot of progress has been made in the development of short course and preventive treatments, especially for children. These short course preventive medicines, that reduce the duration of treatment from 9 months to 3 or even 1 month, have created a big impact on families living with TB. All families living with a patient who has active TB, should have access to this medication to prevent them from getting sick as well. Health workers say it is challenging to convince a family to give drugs to a healthy child, but the short course treatment makes it a bit easier.
We support the fight against TB not only in words, but also in actions. Since 2020, i+solutions is involved in the The Aurum Institute project IMPAACT4TB, funded by Unitaid. In 2022, under the IMPAACT4TB project, we placed orders of 500,880 1HP and 117,510 3HP short course treatments and delivered them in 9 countries. In collaboration with Unitaid and Aurum, we conducted a catalytic procurement for 1HP and 3HP with Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc. to diversify the supplier base beyond Macleods and Sanofi and further increase access and availability of these treatments.
Prevention is essential to stop to the TB pandemic by 2030. The team at i+solutions is proud to be part of this project and to contribute to making an impact.
#WorldTBDay #YesWeCanEndTB