UK Government boosts discovery of new oral TB treatments

UK International Development Minister Ivan Lewis has announced an £18m (Euro 19.5m) boost to the drive to discover and develop new oral treatments for tuberculosis (TB), which could save millions of lives in developing countries.

Current treatment requires multiple antibiotics to be administered over a period of up to 30 months, which is impractical for people in developing countries without access to local medical facilities. Scientists are developing new treatment regimens that will reduce the duration of treatment to a fraction of that required at present.

The funding will support not only the discovery of new treatments that will shorten treatment duration and be effective against both drug-susceptible and drug-resistant strains of TB, but also strategic initiatives to streamline and potentially revolutionise the process by which new TB treatments are developed.

"The reality is that people living on just over 90p a day can"t afford to be away from their families or jobs for prolonged treatment," said Lewis. "The international community needs to reduce the human toll of this epidemic by making the discovery of more effective treatments a priority."

The announcement of the funding coincided with World TB Day on 24 March 2009.