The rising incidence of tuberculosis, once thought of as a disease of the past, has been a source of major concern, particularly for the developing nations it affects, and for the research-scientists combating the drug-resistant strain of this potentially deadly disease.
Dr. Carl Nathan, director of the Milstein Program in Chemical Biology at Weill Cornell, addresses attendees at the conference on tuberculosis on Jan. 12
Proposals to accelerate the development of tuberculosis (TB) drugs were presented on Jan. 12 at a conference organized by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières, with the support of Howard P. Milstein and the Weill Cornell Medical College Howard P. Milstein Program in Chemical Biology, led by Dr. Carl Nathan. More than 100 TB specialists, drug developers and regulators, policy makers, donors and activists convened at the Cornell Club to outline practical proposals to fill the gaps in TB drug research and development.
Approximately nine million new cases of TB appear each year, according to 2005 statistics from the World Health Organization. Although it is, for the most part, a curable disease, many factors affecting populations in underdeveloped countries, including poor-quality drugs, make TB difficult to diagnose and treat. Such factors have led to the emergence of drug-resistant TB, reaching alarmingly high levels in affected countries around the world.
Dr. Nathan and Dr. Tido von Schoen-Angerer, director of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières' Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines.
The conference called for special attention toward the need for new diagnostic tools that are simple, reliable and field adapted to resource-poor settings; more potent drugs to shorten the length of treatment and drug-resistent TB; and an effective vaccine. Until that time, conference organizers stated, governments and pharmaceutical companies must commit to funding research and development programs that address these needs.
"In TB research, there needs to be a convergence of innovation, incentive and access," said Dr. Carl Nathan, the R.A. Rees Pritchett Professor and chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. "We need to see openness, leadership and collaboration among all TB actors."
Photos courtesy of Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders.