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News:
- WHO to replace all injectable with oral drugs “Bedaquiline” to treat MDR-TB patients.
Important Facts:
2. WHO has recommended to change in method to treat MDR-TB patient by replacing all injectable with oral Bedaquiline.
3. MDR-TB is resistant to at least two of the first-line drugs.
4. Why treating MDR-TB using injectable drugs was objectionable.
- Patient discontinued treatment due to adverse effect of injectable drugs.
- Success rate for MDR-TB was only 54% for patient started treatment in 2014.
5 WHO has informed member states to take immediate steps to ensure effective treatment to MDR-TB patients in accordance with new guidelines.
6. According to WHO recommendation, Bedaquiline will be provided to MDR-TB patient as a last resort because clinical trial (Phase III) is still not completed for the new drugs.
7. In Phase IIb trials, the drug was found to have cardio-toxicity and also caused few deaths.
8. India had an estimated 84,000 new MDR/rifampicin-resistant-TB cases in 2016.
9. According to first ever drug testing carried out in India in 2014-16, 6.19 % were found to be multi-drug resistant.
10. Johnson and Johnson company has made an offer to drug at $400 to India.
11. India has been getting bedaquiline drug courses (11,000 so far) for free under the conditional access programme of USAID.
12. South Africa was the first country to scale up access to bedaquiline.
