A global health expert has expressed displeasure over the sidelining of Turberculosis (TB) research at a time all focus was beamed at developing the COVID-19 vaccines.
Speaking during a virtual 52nd Union World Conference on Lung Health (WCOLH), International Union Against TB and Lung Disease president Guy Marks said while COVID-19 and TB were the world’s leading infectious killer diseases, research on TB had been sidelined.
Another new innovation shared by stakeholders was the development of a finger stick blood test that could detect TB in less than an hour. The technology is a fast and accurate, non-sputum-based point-of-care triage test for TB developed by Cepheid.
It is expected to have a major impact on combating the TB burden worldwide.
In yet another development, researchers used masks to see if bacteria could be detected on it so that it could potentially be used to detect infections quicker than with sputum.
A new analysis by UNAIDS has revealed the potential impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic could have in low- and middle-income countries around the world on supplies of the generic antiretroviral medicines used to treat HIV.
The UNAIDS survey discovered that the lockdowns and border closures imposed to stop COVID-19 are impacting both the production of medicines and their distribution, potentially leading to increases in their cost and to supply issues, including stock-outs over the next two months.
“It is vital that countries urgently make plans now to mitigate the possibility and impacts of higher costs and reduced availability of antiretroviral medicines,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS.
“I call on countries and buyers of HIV medicines to act swiftly in order to ensure that everyone who is currently on treatment continues to be on it, saving lives and stopping new HIV infections.”
TB killed over 1,5 million people in 2020. In Zimbabwe, it is estimated that about 30 000 people fall ill due to TB each year, with about 4 600 of them dying.
Despite the grim figures, COVID-19 is said to have continued to impact the delivery of TB services in many low and middle-income countries like Zimbabwe, with many patients failing to access treatment.
