People with multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) are still not receiving two newer TB drugs, bedaquiline and delamanid, which have been available for more than four years and have shown improved cure rates for the disease. Globally, 30% of people with MDR-TB could benefit from the new drugs.
This includes people who meet the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria: people with extensively drug-resistant (XDR-) TB and people with multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) who cannot tolerate treatment with other drugs.
Use of these two drugs remain limited for several reasons, including the fact that some national TB programmes are too conservative.
The global TB community, governments and donors must collectively take urgent steps to increase access to these two newer, promising drugs in order to save the lives of people with DR-TB.
Sign petiton here: www.stepupfortb.org