Despite significant progress in recent years, TB continues to be among the leading causes of death worldwide, claiming the lives of 1.5 million people per year. The COVID-19 pandemic has reversed years of global progress in tackling TB, and multidrug-resistant TB – the largest concern in the control of antimicrobial resistance globally – could put at risk the gains made over the last few decades.
TB is preventable and curable, with the right treatments and sufficient resources, it is possible to stop its spread. However, to reach the ambitious targets of 95% death reduction and 90% incidence decline set by the World Health Organization in its global strategy to end TB, more investment in TB-related activities is urgently needed.
OUCRU’S CONTRIBUTION
As a partner of UNITE4TB, we are proud to be playing our part in the fight to end TB. The Consortium is working to deliver novel phase 2 clinical trials that will accelerate the development of new anti-TB drugs and regimens. Achieving this goal will facilitate fulfillment of one of the main unmet needs in the TB field: well-tolerated drug regimens of shorter duration that can be deployed to tackle TB across various drug-resistant patterns and comorbidities.