The UN health innovation initiative Unitaid issued a warning, emphasizing that the failure to implement tuberculosis contact tracing and prevention measures could result in nearly one million deaths by 2035.
Unitaid highlighted the cost-effective benefits of a combined strategy involving the identification of household contacts and providing tuberculosis preventive treatment. This approach could potentially reduce deaths by 35% among household contacts of patients and people living with HIV within the next 12 years.
SAVING CHILDREN’S LIFE
A joint study conducted by Unitaid, John Hopkins University, and the Aurum Institute revealed that such a strategy could save around 850,000 lives by 2035, with a significant impact on children’s lives due to the low current identification rate for those under 15 years old.
Failure to implement this combination intervention would lead to almost one million deaths by 2035, according to the research findings.
These results align with the World Health Organization’s recommendation that TB preventive treatment be extended to those at the highest risk of infection, including people living with HIV and household contacts of TB patients, both of whom account for a significant portion of the preventable and curable 10.6 million new TB infections occurring annually.
Tuberculosis remains the world’s deadliest infectious disease, despite being preventable and curable. Approximately one-quarter of the global population is infected with TB and at risk of developing active disease, which can cause severe illness.
NEED TO REACH ALL AT-RISK INDIVIDUALS
The analysis highlights the need to reach all at-risk individuals, even those not actively seeking care, to ensure better TB prevention outcomes. As such, it is a worthwhile investment in the fight to end TB worldwide.
“At the moment, too many family members of people diagnosed with TB are slipping through the cracks and too many lives are being lost,” said Tess Ryckman, faculty member at Johns Hopkins.
“At the moment, too many family members of people diagnosed with TB are slipping through the cracks and too many lives are being lost,” said Tess Ryckman, faculty member at Johns Hopkins.
The imperative for TB prevention is clear,” said Vincent Bretin, Director of Results at Unitaid. “This cost-effectiveness analysis proves that preemptively reaching all at-risk individuals – even when it requires the logistical hurdles of going into communities to find those who may not be actively seeking care – is not just ethically sound. It is a smart investment capable of making an enormous impact on the fight to end TB worldwide.”
PRICES DOWN
Through negotiations led by Unitaid and others, the cost of treatment has decreased by over 70% since 2017, making the disease more preventable and curable. Additionally, new shorter treatment regimens can clear up TB infections before they progress into active diseases.
Providing a 12-week treatment course called 3HP could result in an estimated 13% reduction in the number of contacts developing TB, according to the study.
As the second UN High-Level Meeting on tuberculosis approaches in September, Unitaid is calling for greater upfront commitment and financial support to capitalize on the significant benefits of preventing TB illness and death.
