Child-friendly tuberculosis treatment to reach developing world in 2016

A sweet-tasting tuberculosis drug for children is expected to go on sale early this year, international health NGO TB Alliance has said.

The child-friendly medicinals are intended to help children in the developing world stick to their prescribed drug regime. The tablets, which combine sweet flavours with a child dosage in a dissolvable tablet, are the result of a collaboration between the TB Alliance, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the US government. The drug will combine existing TB treatments such as rifampicin, isoniazid and pyrazinamide.

TB Alliance explained that treating children infected with tuberculosis in developing countries currently involves doctors and parents crushing or cutting up adult dose tablets- a fact which makes drug dosage difficult to control.

The WHO estimates that 1 million children contracted TB in 2014, of which 140,000 died as a result. It added that only around a third of those afflicted by the illness are officially diagnosed and treated.
Kenya, which has one of the highest TB infection rates in the world, could be one of the first markets in which the drug will be sold, if it is given the all-clear by the Kenyan government.