Each MDR-TB suffered can infect 15 other people

Tuberculosis (TB) is a curable infectious disease caused by bacteria that attacks any part of the body, mostly the lungs. It is one of the oldest diseases known to mankind and yet we have not been able to control its spread. The TB bacilli are spread into the air when a person who is ill with TB coughs, sneezes or spits. These bacilli can then be breathed in by people who come into contact with the infected air. Despite highly effective drugs, deaths caused by TB are increasing worldwide. This pandemic is being fuelled by the HIV pandemic. In fact, people living with HIV are up to 50 times more likely to develop TB than those who are HIV negative.

According to global statistics, one third of the world's population is infected with TB. Globally, China, India, Russia and South Africa are the four hardest-hit countries. South Africa ranks fifth on the list of 22 high burden countries. The World Health Organisation defines an incidence of 200 per 100 000 cases as a TB epidemic. The national incidence in South Africa is currently at 700 per 100 000.

Another aspect of the resurgence of TB is the development of drug-resistant strains. Poor adherence to prescribed medication and interrupted treatment of TB, a widespread phenomenon in developing countries, not only fails to cure the illness but often results in multidrug-resistant strains, which require lengthy and more complex treatment. Conservative estimates indicate that about 500 000 new cases of MDR-TB arise every year.

“Any effort to fight a disease must start with awareness that the disease exists. We must all accept the fact that TB could infect any one of us. This rational acknowledgement of our collective and individual vulnerability says that we must care for each other, and hold hands to fight TB. The Lilly MDR-TB Partnership aims to raise awareness of the existence of MDR-TB and to increase humanity's ability to prevent, diagnose and treat this curable but potentially fatal disease,” says Dr Zi Chapanduka, Medical, Regulatory and Corporate Affairs Director at Lilly South Africa.

The Lilly MDR-TB Partnership, established in 2003, is the largest philanthropic project of its kind and its aim is to fight the looming global crisis of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).

Besides its global corporate social investment project, namely the Lilly MDR-TB Partnership, Eli Lilly has also formed an associated enterprise called the Lilly TB Drug Discovery Initiative. Late last year it was announced that this initiative had acquired its first compounds for further development into tuberculosis (TB) drug candidates. Agreements were reached with two global research organizations for two compounds that have shown potential in initial testing.

“In addition to the efforts made within the Lilly MDR-TB Partnership, the Lilly TB Drug Discovery initiative works to speed-up the discovery of molecules which will eventually be developed into anti-TB drugs. Without such new drugs, it may only be a matter of time before TB strains are resistant to all the known TB drugs. This not-for-profit initiative has already yielded some highly promising new drugs for further development,” Dr Chapanduka continues.

While MDR-TB is much more difficult and costly to treat than drug-susceptible TB, recent work has shown that treatment is feasible and cost-effective even in settings of limited recourses such as South Africa. The aim of health authorities both in South Africa and globally is to scale up control of TB to prevent the emergence of new MDR-TB cases as well as the acceleration of treatment for patients with drug-resistant forms of the disease.