NEW TB DRUGS TRIAL

TRIAL NEW TB DRUGS BEGINS OCTOBER

The new TB (Tuberculosis) drug which is likely to shorten the duration of treatment and be more effective will start with clinical trials in October in Bagamoyo District.

Hitherto, full treatment of this killer disease took almost six-to-eight months and recently conventional drugs did not appear to be 100% effective. The new medicine is likely to shorten the span of treatment, possible by more than 50% and may likely replace the old drugs.

In order to arrive to a scientific conclusion of the new TB drug, a community based well-knitted team work, assembled at the  Bagamoyo Branch of Ifakara Health Institute for a “brush-up” seminar on Wednesday morning. Almost eighty people attended the instructions delivered by Coordinator of the project Dr. Omar Juma, the project team leader Dr. Thomas Zoller, Dr. Mwinyi Kambi Salum and Lab Technicians.

The delegates were drawn from National Tuberculosis & Leprosy Programme; IHI staff and scientists; Community Advisory Board members from 24 villages in Bagamoyo District; Health Workers,  Artists & Singers who will portray the campaign. They will all play their respective roles in locating and managing the treatment of TB Patients in Bagamoyo District covering a study area of 1160 km2 in 24 villages. The study area has a total of administrative demarcated  offices of 3 Division, 8 Wards and 24 Village Governments.

Speaking politely but firmly, he asked the entire team to look at the whole exercise seriously with a positive end result. He mentioned, among others, three major points which were: (a) implementation of new diagonistic methods to speed-up the exercise; (b) to get all the team members to work seriously; (d) to analyze the effectiveness of the new TB drug in comparison to the  conventional medicines.

For information: TB is one of the world’s deadliest pandemic diseases and is increasingly resistant to current drugs. TB is the leading infectious killer of people with HIV/AIDS disease. TB kills someone approximately every 20 seconds, or 4100 every day. Nearly 1,500,000 were reported to have died of TB in 2013 throughout the world.

Dr. Thomas Zoller a Scientist from Germany and who is the Project Leader of the new TB drug speculated that with a properly laid ground work, location of TB patients through laboratory investigations and full treatment will surely result positively. 

For information: The Bagamoyo Branch of Ifakara Health Institute was established in 2005 as a site for malaria drug and vaccine clinical trials. Recently it expanded the services to cover TB and HIV/AIDS related research work. It is financed by TB Alliance with active support from various organizations including Australia, USA, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, European Commission, Global Health Innovation Tech. Fund, National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Disease, UNITAID, UK Department for International Aid, US Food & Drug Administration.

Story & Pictures by Abdul Hai

Bagamoyo News

Team Leader of the new TB Drug clinical trials at IHI Bagamoyo, Dr. Thomas Zoller and Coordinator of IHI Dr. Omar Juma speaking to over 80 delegates who attanded the seminar at Bagamoyo on Wednesday.

A group picture of the participants who attended the one-day seminar to effectively manage the clinical trials of the new TB Drug which will begin in October this year.

Participants listening attentively to the Lecturer Dr. Omar Juma in the conference room of IHI Bagamoyo.

Health Workers, Artists, Lab Technicians, Community Advisory Board Members listening to the lectures at the one-day seminar held in Bagamoyo.