Global health community calls for more effective, accessible TB treatment in MSF statement

"Patients, doctors and international aid groups are calling on donors and governments to support measures that would make treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis [TB] more effective and accessible," Inter Press Service reports, noting, "The demands are being made amidst the recent or imminent approval of two new drugs" that some advocates say "present an historic opportunity to tackle the notoriously difficult-to-treat disease." The news service writes, "On Monday, [Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)] released a manifesto, signed by TB patients and their doctors in 23 countries around the world" calling for research to determine the best way to use these drugs. "The call to action comes on the heels of a [WHO] statement on the wide spread of drug-resistant tuberculosis -- and warnings over an anticipated funding gap of $1.6 billion needed to both identify new cases and combat existing strains," the news service notes (Fossett, 3/21).