Kenya becomes first country to roll out child-friendly TB drug

Kenya becomes first country to roll out child-friendly TB drug

Henry jex blog

"Previously, parents and caregivers
would break or crush multiple, bitter-
tasting pills to achieve the right doses
for children." /FILE
Kenya has become the first country in
the world to roll out child-friendly TB
medicine following the launch of new
formulations of the medication on
Tuesday.
The drugs are improved formulations
that come in the correct doses for
children, are fruit-flavoured and
dissolve in water for easy intake.
Some 155,000 children with TB are set
to benefit across 18 countries that have
already ordered the new medicines and
are preparing to roll them out, starting
with Kenya, according to the TB
Alliance campaign group that oversaw
their development.
Previously, parents and caregivers
would break or crush multiple, bitter-
tasting pills to achieve the right doses
for children.
This made the six-month treatment an
ordeal for children and their families,
contributing to treatment failure and
death from the disease.
“Now, with the appropriate treatments,
we can make rapid progress in finding
and treating children with TB so we can
achieve a TB free generation,” Health CS
Cleopa Mailu said.
Kenya is a high burden TB country,
with nearly 7,000 cases reported in
infants and children in 2015.
Those under five years have the greatest
risk of severe infection and death.
The new medicines will be administered
based on the weight as opposed to the
age of the child, the Ministry of Health
said.
Any child weighing more than five
kilogrammes qualifies to take the new
formulations.
Dr Enos Masini, head of Kenya’s
National Tuberculosis, Leprosy and
Lung Disease Programme, said all
children under five years and
kilogrammes will now be put on the
new formulations.

“Childhood TB is a problem that can be
solved when we choose to act,” he said.
According to the World Health
Organisation, at least one million
children across the world suffer from
TB each year and 140,000 children die
of this preventable, treatable and
curable disease.
The treatments now being introduced
are the first to meet the WHO’s
guidelines for childhood TB treatment.
They are fixed dose combinations of the
three most commonly used drugs to
treat drug-sensitive TB (rifampicin,
isoniazid, and pyrazinamide).
The development of the medicines was
overseen by TB Alliance, an
international not-for-profit
organisation, and was funded by
Unitaid and other partners.
“These new treatments won’t have an
impact until they reach the children that
need them,” said Dr Cherise Scott,
Director of Pediatric Programs, TB
Alliance.

“No child should die of TB, yet for too
long, we have not had the medicines to
mount a sustainable response against
childhood TB,” said Robert Matiru,
Director of Operations for Unitaid.
When TB patients do not complete their
treatment, the bacteria can become drug
resistant and there is no child-friendly
formulation to treat this kind of
bacteria.
TB in children is difficult to diagnose as
the disease manifests differently from
adults.

Data from the Ministry of Health shows
that 81,518 people were diagnosed with
TB last year. In Nairobi alone 12,000
people were diagnosed, majority of who
live in informal settlements.
Some of the counties that are still
recording high TB infection rates are
Nairobi, Turkana, West Pokot, Samburu,
Isiolo, Tharaka Nithi, Kirinyaga, Meru,
Embu, Migori, Homa Bay and Kisumu.
Also read: Kenya pledges Sh500 million
to Global Fund to fight HIV, TB, Malaria