Content :

Tuberculosis - Actions

 

• Partnerships
• TB Free Programme

Partnerships

Developping partnerships with international organizations

A strategy for developing and improving tuberculosis treatment has been established, in partnership with numerous international organizations, such as the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) in the United States, TB Alliance, CREATE (Consortium to Respond Effectively to the AIDS/TB Epidemic), St George's Hospital Medical School London, etc,..

This strategy is based on:

• continued development of an existing drug, rifapentin, in the treatment of latent and active tuberculosis, both alone and in combination with other drugs. The aim is to shorten treatment duration and reduce the number of times that medication has to be taken, while nevertheless maintaining optimal effectiveness,
• systematic screening of its portfolio of antibiotics so as to identify new products that may be effective against the tuberculosis bacillus, especially the kinds that have developed resistance to standard treatment,
• research on new drugs, possibly with recourse to external partners.

This new sanofi-aventis research and development program is in step with the aims of STOP TB, a worldwide program under the auspices of the WHO and the United Nations « Millennium Summit » objectives, which are essentially to curb the spread of tuberculosis and thus reverse its incidence as of 2015  

TB Free Programme

With nearly 400,000 new cases annually and an average of 175 deaths daily,
South Africa is among the countries most affected by tuberculosis.

The TB Free Program that has been implemented in South Africa was developed in partnership with sanofi-aventis, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the South African Health Department.  

It aims to help raise awareness about the disease, the importance of diagnosis as soon as the first symptoms appear, and support for tuberculosis patients - DOTS supporters - whose task is to directly supervise patient treatment compliance.

Whithin this program, nine new centers were opened (one per region). The goal is to train over 20,000 DOTS supporters nationwide, each monitoring about ten patients throughout their treatment.