Achieving Our AAA Mandate
: Rapid introduction of improved TB medicines for children
Each year, one million children get sick with TB and 210,000 die from it — that's nearly 575 children dying each and every day.
In 2016, TB Alliance and its partners made huge progress in the introduction of the first appropriately dosed child-friendly TB medicines. Previously, care providers and parents encountered many difficulties in administering suboptimal medicines to children every day for six months. In just one year, more than 325,900 treatment courses of these new medicines had been ordered – enough to meet the needs of 90% of the children reported every year to national programs. Today, 36 countries have ordered the improved medicines, with many more expected in the years ahead.
Early adopter countries have already received the medicines and begun dispensing them to children in need. In Papua New Guinea, a pilot was launched at Port Moresby General Hospital in August 2016 by the PNG Paediatric Society, along with the World Health Organization, Australian Aid, Ministry of Health, National TB Program, and other partners — Papua New Guinea was among the first countries to receive a shipment of the new treatments, followed closely by Kenya, which became the first country to make them available on a national level.
In 2017, other countries that are expected to begin dispensing the medicines include India, in a major pilot of 100 districts across five states, and the Philippines. Additional countries that have now received these new treatments include Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.
The rapid introduction of these improved childhood TB medicines may be the most successful TB product launch in history. The new childhood TB medicines also achieved the TB Alliance patient access commitment, known as the AAA Mandate.
These new medicines are easily adoptable as they are endorsed by WHO treatment guidelines, widely available in the public and private sector, and affordable. As countries continue to roll out these products, children around the world stand to benefit from dramatically improved TB treatments. As countries continue to roll out these new products and with others on the horizon, the continued work of TB Alliance and its partners will be important to ensuring that children with TB are not neglected.
Results through Strong Partnerships
Throughout 2016, TB Alliance continued to work with a network of technical partners to ensure that the new formulations reach every child in need. In additional to country partnerships, this includes the World Health Organization, MSH/SIAPS, UNICEF, the Stop TB Partnership's Global Drug Facility, Childhood and Adolescent TB Working Group, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, Desmond Tutu TB Centre, USAID, KNCV, The Union, and Baylor College of Medicine, among others.
This initiative received support from UNITAID, the major funder, as well as US Agency for International Development (USAID), the UK Department for International Development (DFID), Irish Aid, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS).
Substandard
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New
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Kenya Launches Improved
Medicines for Children
Now, with the appropriate treatments, we can make rapid progress in finding and treating children with TB so we can achieve a TB free generation.— Dr Cleopa Mailu, Cabinet Secretary for Health, Kenya
Getting #LouderThanTB
On World TB Day 2016, TB Alliance organized the launch of Louder Than TB, a global campaign composed of more than 40 organizations, with its first goal to raise awareness of childhood TB and improve case finding, treatment, and overall child survival from TB.
In addition to organizations that have been active in the field of TB, UNICEF, Save the Children, PepsiCo, the ONE campaign, and other groups have joined as part of the Coalition of organizations working to help the campaign reach its goals. FCB Health, a global healthcare advertising agency, is donating its professional services, ensuring that the campaign runs in a very cost-effective manner and with maximum impact.
Kenya awareness poster generated by Louder Than TB campaign
