Dawn of a new era for treatment of Childhood TB
Dr Amitava Acharyya, CNS Correspondent, India
TB continues to be a major infectious disease among children. Southeast Asia and Western Pacific regions are bearing more than 50% of the total childhood TB cases. India alone accounts for 27% of the global burden of paediatric TB. Nearly 5% of the new cases in India are reported among children. Early diagnosis and proper treatment plays a crucial role in not only improving cure rates but also in reducing the burden of drug sensitive as well as multi drug resistant TB (MDR-TB), the latter affecting 32,000 children globally.
TB continues to be a major infectious disease among children. Southeast Asia and Western Pacific regions are bearing more than 50% of the total childhood TB cases. India alone accounts for 27% of the global burden of paediatric TB. Nearly 5% of the new cases in India are reported among children. Early diagnosis and proper treatment plays a crucial role in not only improving cure rates but also in reducing the burden of drug sensitive as well as multi drug resistant TB (MDR-TB), the latter affecting 32,000 children globally.
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A new year gift: Child friendly drugs to cure paediatric TB
Dr Richa Sharma, CNS Correspondent, India
TB has been known to mankind since ancient times and has claimed many lives every year since then. Children form a vulnerable category for many infections and TB is no different in this regard. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1 million children became infected with TB in 2014 and 140,000 died because of it. Yet children remain largely neglected in this regard.
Half the battle won with child-friendly TB drugs
Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe
We
end the year 2015 with a sigh of relief for children as there has been a
milestone achievement in TB treatment for children. A new and effective
TB formulation for children has been unveiled. The world’s first
appropriate child-friendly fixed dose combination (FDC) medicine to
treat children with drug sensitive TB will soon be available in the
market. This is bound to make medication, and hence treatment of
childhood TB more manageable.
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India does not need an enemy
Dr Sandeep Pandey, Bobby Ramakant, Dr Rahul Pandey, CNS
The Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal intends to set up a three tier public health care system in the country’s capital. A 1000 Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics will be the primary health care centres. A 100 polyclinics will function as a link between the primary and main health centres. This system will reduce the rush in OPDs of hospitals. In Sri Lanka there is a health centre within 1.4 km from the residence of most people. Life expectancy in Sri Lanka at about 75 years is ten times more than in India. Infant mortality rate in Sri Lanka is merely 11 per thousand live births compared to 47 in India. Under-five mortality rates in India and Sri Lanka are 61 and 12, respectively, for the same number of live births. Maternal mortality ratio per lakh live births in India is 200, whereas in Sri Lanka it is merely 35. Infant immunization in Sri Lanka is almost universal whereas India struggles to reach out to less than three fourths of its children.
Despite promise to end Encephalitis and other NTDs by 2030, why is action missing?
Does MPOWER really empower women?
Shobha Shukla, CNS (Citizen News Service)
Well, the answer seems to be NO, as was made out in the deliberations at the 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health held in Cape Town recently. WHO had introduced the MPOWER measures in 2008 to assist in the country-level implementation of effective interventions for tobacco control as contained in the global tobacco treaty (formally called the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
MDR-TB care: Where do we go when health systems are overburdened?
Alice Tembe, CNS Special Correspondent, Swaziland
In any situation of health crisis, it is normally assumed that care of the sick, especially infectious patients, is designated to clinically trained nurses and doctors in hospital settings. Today, as the world battles with the epidemic of infectious diseases like TB and multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), many settings are faced with limited bed-capacity to hospitalize and care for patients till they can be integrated back into the community.
MDR-TB treatment: Comprehensive health system response is needed
Dr Diana Wangari, CNS Special Correspondent, Kenya
Marian Loveday of the South African Medical Research Council (MRC), presented a real life interesting case study at the 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health, held in Cape Town recently, which illustrated the typical treatment journey of a multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) patient in South Africa. South Africa, where a decentralized model of treatment is being adapted in most facilities, has one of the largest MDR-TB epidemics in the world found in its Kwa Zulu-Natal Province, with approximately 75% of the MDR-TB patients being co-infected with HIV.
Marian Loveday of the South African Medical Research Council (MRC), presented a real life interesting case study at the 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health, held in Cape Town recently, which illustrated the typical treatment journey of a multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) patient in South Africa. South Africa, where a decentralized model of treatment is being adapted in most facilities, has one of the largest MDR-TB epidemics in the world found in its Kwa Zulu-Natal Province, with approximately 75% of the MDR-TB patients being co-infected with HIV.
m-Health solutions for TB care: A moment to ponder
Dr Diana Wangari, CNS Special Correspondent, Kenya
In a world where the use of information and communication technology is on a constant rise, the mobile phone, in particular, has permeated to low-income nations where, even in the remotest of areas, it is becoming a form of a necessity. It then seems logical that we utilize this gadget, as much as we can, in seeking health solutions. During the 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health held in Cape Town, results of some of the m-health projects for TB care and control piloted in different countries were shared in a lively session.
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| Dr Evan Lee (R) |
To breathe is to live : Call for action to tackle pneumonia
A walk in a clinic in an urban slum or rural setting is invariably associated with one coming across a parent sitting with their child helping them to breathe through the mouthpiece of a nebulizer machine. Such is the presence of pneumonia cases in developing countries and resource constraint settings.
30 years of HIV in India: Progress in UP but daunting challenges remain
Pneumonia: An outcome of preventable mistakes
Dr Amitava Acharyya, CNS Correspondent, India
“That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history”--Aldous Huxley
During the early 1900s, pneumonia was the third leading cause of death. Still now it is in endemic condition among under 5 years old children (responsible for 15% of all deaths in children < 5 years old) and geriatric population. The preventive and curative aspects of pneumonia are well established. But, the failure of implementation of proper health care structure, inadequate health promotion and health education among the masses and inadequate supply of anti-biotics remain the causes of this preventable burden.
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| Photo credit: CNS |
During the early 1900s, pneumonia was the third leading cause of death. Still now it is in endemic condition among under 5 years old children (responsible for 15% of all deaths in children < 5 years old) and geriatric population. The preventive and curative aspects of pneumonia are well established. But, the failure of implementation of proper health care structure, inadequate health promotion and health education among the masses and inadequate supply of anti-biotics remain the causes of this preventable burden.
[Call to register for webinar] Half battle won with new child-friendly TB drugs: What's the other half?
[Webinar recording] We welcome you to register
for an exclusive media webinar on 'Half the battle won with new child-friendly TB drugs. What is the other half?' As we know, the world's first appropriate, child-friendly fixed dose combination (FDC) medicines to treat children suffering from drug-sensitive TB were announced just ahead of the 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Cape Town, South Africa. Get connected with noted experts from lead
agencies such as the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), TB Alliance, Stop TB Partnership and its Global Drug Facility, who will present and respond to questions live!
Inhaled drug therapy for TB treatment
Alice Tembe, CNS Special Correspondent, Swaziland
In the light of the outcry of the high pill burden, severe toxicity and high treatment non-adherence rates, and many more challenges associated with the treatment of TB, in particular of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), innovative drug therapies are beginning to be explored. One of them - inhaled TB drugs - were presented at the 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health held recently in Cape Town.
In the light of the outcry of the high pill burden, severe toxicity and high treatment non-adherence rates, and many more challenges associated with the treatment of TB, in particular of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), innovative drug therapies are beginning to be explored. One of them - inhaled TB drugs - were presented at the 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health held recently in Cape Town.
Connecting the dots: Mental health and tuberculosis
Alice Tembe, CNS Special Correspondent, Swaziland
As I get totally swathed by the very inspiring and tiring 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health, a serious thought that came to my mind was the connect between mental health and TB. This was a question also posed by Dr Annika Sweetland, a Research Scientist in the Department of Psychology from Columbia University, also tried to answer a similar question in one of the sessions: Does TB predispose patients to mental health disorders, and, are mental health disorders a risk factor to developing active TB?
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| Dr Annika Sweetland |
TB-HIV in pregnant women: Does drug metabolism change?
Dr Diana Wangari, CNS Special Correspondent, Kenya
In a global conference where lung health is addressed in different tracks through parallel and equally stimulating sessions, with emphasis on TB, one often finds oneself struggling about what session to attend and which one to forego on behalf of the other. I was often faced with a similar dilemma while attending the 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health. Therefore, when I came across the session 'Maternal and Infant TB: Advancing our understanding of pathogenesis, treatment and prevention', I had to pause.
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| Photo credit: CNS: citizen-news.org |
Will 2030 Global Goals help accelerate progress towards ending TB?
Shobha Shukla, CNS (Citizen News Service)
[CNS video] This article is based upon an exclusive interview with Dr Mario Raviglione, Director of the WHO's Global TB Programme. Dr Raviglione spoke with CNS (Citizen News Service) at the 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Cape Town, South Africa. As we know, the Global Goals for Sustainable Development 2030 adopted by the governments at the 70th United Nations General Assembly in September 2015, present an integrated development agenda.
[CNS video] This article is based upon an exclusive interview with Dr Mario Raviglione, Director of the WHO's Global TB Programme. Dr Raviglione spoke with CNS (Citizen News Service) at the 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Cape Town, South Africa. As we know, the Global Goals for Sustainable Development 2030 adopted by the governments at the 70th United Nations General Assembly in September 2015, present an integrated development agenda.
Lesson from the frontlines: Decentralized care and treatment for MDR-TB
Shobha Shukla, CNS (Citizen News Service)
During the 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health, that just concluded in Cape Town, I had the opportunity of visiting the close-by township of Khayelitsha, where Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), more commonly known as Doctors Without Borders, has, since 2007, implemented a decentralized model of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) care.
During the 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health, that just concluded in Cape Town, I had the opportunity of visiting the close-by township of Khayelitsha, where Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), more commonly known as Doctors Without Borders, has, since 2007, implemented a decentralized model of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) care.
TB Chronicles: A leading example of community-driven approach in Eastern Cape South Africa
Dr Diana Wangari, CNS Special Correspondent, Kenya
In Kenya, there is a phrase ‘serikali saidia’ which translates to ‘government help us’ and it is often that you will find that this phrase appear in conversations of victims of disaster situations. Therefore, if a bridge is swept away during a flood, you are bound to hear the villagers explaining how fundamental the bridge is to their day-to-day activities and their plea to the government is that it builds a stronger and wider bridge next time.
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| Learners from Masakhe Primary School in Duncan village, East London |
Patient-centred approach for MDR-TB treatment: Are we ready?
Alice Tembe, CNS Special Correspondent, Swaziland
As the world gears up for ‘The New Agenda: Lung health beyond 2015’ - the inspired theme of the 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health taking place in Cape Town, South Africa, a new buzz word doing the rounds is about keeping patients central to all treatment approaches and not merely a number in data.
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| Dr Jennifer Furin (L), Alice Tembe (R) |
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