Economist Intelligence Unit Report Calls for Urgent Global Action to Combat the Growing Tuberculosis Pandemic

London (ots/PRNewswire) -

A new report on tuberculosis (TB) published today by The Economist
Intelligence Unit (EIU) investigates the increasing health challenges
posed by TB and calls for new ways to improve the effectiveness of
the global response to this pandemic.[1] The report supported by
Janssen and titled 'Ancient enemy, modern imperative: A time for
greater action against tuberculosis', highlights the evolving TB
crisis. It emphasises the urgent need for integrated care, harnessing
innovative yet cost-effective strategies and raising the profile of
TB to overcome this highly infectious, yet treatable killer.

Dr Lucica Ditiu, Executive Secretary at the STOP TB Partnership
explains that TB has been met with apathy: "It is like an orphan. It
has been neglected even in countries with a high burden and often
forgotten by donors and those investing in health interventions."

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ivu.com/mnr/71400565-urgent-action-to-combat-tuberculosis-pandemic

As a result of the need for critical change to enable more
effective TB control, the report calls for new TB strategies that
address current weaknesses, while leveraging successes to date. These
changes include:[1]

- Finding and treating people where they live: To identify the nearly 3
million new cases of TB every year, health systems in countries with a high TB burden
need to look across the entire population. Even those countries with a lower
prevalence have to find better ways of going into and working with marginalised
populations.
- Taking TB control out of existing silos: TB needs to treat the whole person,
including addressing common co-morbidities such as HIV/AIDS, and co-ordinating public
and private health provision.
- Harnessing cost-effective technology: Although progress in TB remains
frustratingly slow, new tools available today - both medical and non-medical such as
mobile technologies and integrated databases - have the potential to transform
treatment.
- Raising the profile of TB: Perhaps most important, activists and other
stakeholders must translate new global ambitions into national ones - that deploy the
tools at hand with sufficient energy to make more rapid progress against this disease.

"The report calls for more attention to the basics in the battle
against TB and the drug-resistant form of the disease; current
efforts are insufficient and resistance is out of control. The vast
majority of people with multi drug resistant (MDR) TB are not
properly diagnosed or treated appropriately, and we have to recognise
that MDR-TB is a real global public health emergency. Not only is the
growth of drug resistance making TB control more difficult, but it is
also revealing failures in basic TB control," said Dr Neil Schluger,
Chief Scientific Officer of the World Lung Foundation and chair of
the Tuberculosis Trials Consortium.

If these required changes are urgently implemented this will play
a key role in helping achieve the new "Post 2015 Global Strategy and
Targets for Tuberculosis Prevention, Care and Control", approved by
The World Health Organization (WHO).[2] These latest targets call for
reducing the incidence of TB to below 10 cases per 100,000 population
and cutting the number of deaths by 95% by 2035 - however this will
require healthcare systems to make dramatic progress and for the
apathy associated with TB to be extinguished.

"While efforts in the fight against TB have saved millions of
lives, to control this disease effectively, fundamental changes are
required. With the development of new treatments and cost-effective
technologies, now is the time to make these changes so that they can
be introduced responsibly and sustainably through structured health
systems," said Wim Parys, M.D., R&D Head, Global Public Health,
Janssen. "We are committed to driving better health outcomes,
improving the lives of TB patients worldwide and continuing to work
towards a coordinated global TB control strategy that ensures
treatments are available and used appropriately."

Tuberculosis is responsible for the second greatest number of
deaths from a single infectious disease, after HIV/AIDS, causing 1.3
million deaths in 2012 (2% of global mortality).[1] Someone with
active, pulmonary TB on average infects around one new person per
month and in two thirds of active cases, if left untreated, TB is
fatal.[1] For pulmonary TB this is usually as a result of degrading
the lungs to an extent the person affected eventually suffocates to
death.

Despite treatments for TB existing for nearly 70 years[3] and the
WHO estimating that 22 million lives have been saved due to ongoing
successful efforts since 1995[2] the report emphasises that progress
has been too slow and significant weaknesses still remain. The report
highlights that MDR-TB, defined as being resistant to the most
powerful first-line treatments[4] have received too little attention
with rates of MDR-TB continuing to make up an increasing percentage
of all new TB cases across the globe, especially in central Asia and
Eastern Europe.

A full copy of the EIU report and supporting materials, including
static and animated infographics, are available at:
http://www.janssenhealthpolicycentre.com

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is the world's leading
resource for economic and business research, forecasting and
analysis. The EIU is headquartered in London, UK, with offices in
more than 40 cities and a network of some 650 country experts and
analysts worldwide. It operates independently as the
business-to-business arm of The Economist Group, the leading source
of analysis on international business and world affairs. More
information is available at http://www.eiu.com

About Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB)

MDR-TB is a particularly complicated form of TB characterised by
resistance to at least two of the standard four-drug, anti-TB
drugs.[4] Inadequate treatment allows resistant bacteria to thrive
and poses a significant transmission risk to the general
population.[4] Without significant public health intervention, it is
estimated that more than two million people will be infected with
MDR-TB strains of TB, between 2011 and 2015.[5]

About Janssen and TB

Janssen has developed a new treatment for MDR-TB. The company has
a global commitment to addressing diseases of high unmet need, such
as MDR-TB, and to underscoring the need for improved treatment
options and patient access to treatment.

About Janssen Global Public Health

The Janssen Global Public Health (Janssen GPH) group complements
the groundbreaking science of the Janssen Pharmaceutical companies of
Johnson & Johnson with innovative strategies that improve access to
medicines, foster collaborations and support public health solutions
to sustainably advance health care worldwide. Current areas of focus
include multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB); human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV); elephantiasis and river blindness;
intestinal worms; and use of mobile technologies (mHealth) to improve
health outcomes.

References:

1) Economist Intelligence Unit. 2014. Ancient enemy, modern imperative: A
time for greater action against tuberculosis. Available at
http://www.janssenhealthpolicycentre.com
2) WHO. Global strategy and targets for tuberculosis prevention, care and
control after 2015. May 2014. Available at
http://www.who.int/tb/post2015_tbstrategy.pdf?ua=1 (last accessed June 2014)
3) Zumla A, et al. Advances in the development of new tuberculosis drugs and
treatment regimens. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2013;12:388-404. Available at
http://www.nature.com/nrd/journal/v12/n5/box/nrd4001_BX1.html (last accessed June
2014)
4) Centre for Disease Control. Tuberculosis fact sheet. Available at:
http://www.cdc.gov/tb/publications/factsheets/drtb/mdrtb.htm (last accessed June
2014)
5) WHO. Partners call for increased commitment to tackle MDR-TB. March 2011.
Available at
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2011/TBday_20110322/en/index.html.
(last accessed June 2014)

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ots Originaltext: Janssen Pharmaceutica
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