Half a million TB patients to get free drugs under new UN health agency accord

With tuberculosis killing one person every 15 seconds, half a million of the world's poorest TB patients are set to benefit from free life-saving drugs under an agreement signed today by the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) and the pharmaceutical company, Novartis.

Novartis will donate the medicine to the Global Drug Facility, hosted by WHO and operated by the Stop TB Partnership. The facility has supplied procurement support and medicines to 2.8 million TB patients in 65 countries since its launch. The drugs will be provided over a five-year- period to nations scaling up TB control with support from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

"Novartis has taken a strong lead in fighting tuberculosis and we encourage other drug manufacturers to follow their example,” WHO Director-General Lee Jong-wook said today in Geneva. "Massive investment in patient care from the pharmaceutical industry will have an enormous impact on reducing the TB death toll," he added. Almost 2 million people die of TB every year.

The Executive Director of the Global Fund, Richard Feachem, hailed the donation as an example of public-private partnerships that the organization seeks to encourage. "We are very pleased that Novartis will reinforce the boost the Global Fund is supplying to countries that are stepping up the fight against TB," he said.

Novartis Chairman and CEO Daniel Vasella said the donation was one aspect of a multi-pronged strategy to help combat the disease. "We are pleased to contribute to the cure of many of the poorest patients with tuberculosis," he declared.

“This initiative is part of our engagement in the fight against leprosy, malaria and dengue fever, all endemic diseases in developing countries.”

Under the agreement, Novartis will manufacture special patient kits containing fixed-dose combination tablets in blister packs. The design improves patient compliance and greatly reduces the risk of developing drug-resistant TB, which is far more costly and difficult to treat.