Issued by Department of Health
11 September 2006
The Department of Health is making progress in ascertaining supply of additional drugs – Capreomycin and Para Amino Salicylic Acid - to deal with Extreme Drug Resistant Tuberculosis with a local company agreeing to provide one of the drugs.The drug is in the process of being registered. We are also looking internationally for other options.
Pharmaceutical manufacturer, Aspen has agreed to supply Capreomycin and the process is underway to get a supplier for Para Amino Salicylic Acid.
The two additional drugs that are being sought to deal with XDR TB are not new inventions. They have been used for treatment of TB before and replace by the current first line of TB drugs, which had better treatment outcomes. These drugs are being reintroduced because of resistance to the first and second line of drugs.
There has been no invention of new TB drugs over the past four decades.
The XDR TB strain has resistance to all first-level drugs (ordinary treatment given to TB patients) and it also has resistance to 2 of the major classes of the second-level drugs used to treat patients with multi-drug-resistant (MDR).
Contact: Charity Bhengu @ 0836797424