Patients with multi-drug resistant TB should be treated with oral medicines, according to new global guidance.
The World Health Organisation said it had made major changes in its advice on the treatment of the disease.
As part of the changes, WHO has published a league table of medicines, setting out the balance between benefit and harm.
About 600,000 people are diagnosed with this form of TB annually and about 240,000 die from the disease.
The guidance has been backed by a database developed for WHO by McGill University, Canada.
WHO says that oral treatments such as bedaquiline are now more potent than injectable treatments.
Dr Soumya Swaminathan, WHO Deputy Director-General for Programmes, said: “Building on the available new data, and with the involvement of a large number of stakeholders, WHO has moved forward in rapidly reviewing the evidence and communicating the key changes needed to improve the chances of survival of MDR-TB patients worldwide.
“Political momentum now needs to urgently accelerate, if the global crisis of MDR-TB is to be contained.”
Leave a Reply