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Africa InsidersSociety

Insiders insight: A TB advancement vs. intellectual property rights

By Africa Insiders
August 28, 2018
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TB in Africa. UN Photo/Tobin Jones
TB in Africa. UN Photo/Tobin Jones

Credit: UN Photo/Tobin Jones.

To get the whole Insiders’ Newsletter, helping you keep track of and understand developments on the continent while supporting African Arguments, click HERE to subscribe and get your first month FREE.

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This week’s free preview section (scroll down) is about advancements and setbacks in crucial TB treatment, but first here are all the sections non-subscribers are missing out on:


Follow up: Bobi Wine and the Arua33 released, but what next?

Still facing treason allegations, Robert Kyagulanyi ­– more popularly known by his stage name, Bobi Wine – is out on bail…

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A US Air Force drone base in the remote northern city of Agadez in Niger will cost $100 million to build…

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Advances and setbacks in tuberculosis treatment

Tuberculosis plagues countries – particularly low- and middle-income countries – around the world, but it’s impact on the African continent is disproportionately large. Sixteen of the 30 countries facing the highest burden of TB are in Africa. And there are particular concerns about rising rates of TB strains that are resistant to standard treatment, raising the spectre of higher costs for health systems, less availability of treatment for patients and, ultimately, more TB-related deaths.

That’s why new guidance last week from the World Health Organization on treatment for multi-drug resistant TB, or MDR-TB, should be welcome.

Based on improved evidence, the global body is recommending a shift toward drugs that can be taken orally, rather than injected. That should make it easier for patients to stay on treatment. The newly-recommended drugs also have fewer of the debilitating side effects, such as hearing loss, associated with older drugs.

All is not well in the TB treatment sphere, though. The UN is set to host a high-level meeting on tuberculosis next month, but negotiations over a draft political declaration ahead of the summit are at a standstill. The US has raised concerns about intellectual property regulations that generally allow countries to override patents and manufacture drugs at a much lower cost than they would be available for purchase on the open market. The business-friendly Trump administration appears to be balking at this arrangement, though there are reports that the two sides have struck some sort of compromise.

Ultimately, though, any prioritisation of intellectual property over access could slow the introduction of cutting-edge TB treatment in poor- and middle-income countries – the places already hardest hit by the disease.

  • The WHO’s rapid communication
  • WHO revises MDR-TB treatment with focus on oral drugs (CIDRAP)
  • The divisive issue stalling both NCD, TB negotiations (Devex)
  • Negotiators on UN TB resolution may have a deal (Intellectual Property Watch)

Compiled by @_andrew_green

This week’s editorial team: @PeterDoerrie, @jamesjwan


To get the full newsletter every week, subscribe now: SUBSCRIBE NOW

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The Africa Insiders Newsletter is a weekly newsletter brought to you by African Arguments. Written by leading journalists and analysts, it it made up of snappy, insightful updates on the major developments that have hit the week's headlines, and those that should've.

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