Click here to see a Remi-d Flash Presentation

 

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is a deadly, poverty-related disease caused by air-borne bacteria.  The bacteria are released into the air when a person with an active TB infection coughs, sneezes or speaks.  TB primarily affects the lungs, but can also develop in most organs.  Symptoms include a bad cough lasting more than three weeks, chest pain, weakness or fatigue, fever and loss of appetite.  One-third of the world’s population is infected with TB, however, only 5-10% of those infected will eventually develop the disease.  Infected individuals who are immunocompromised (as in HIV) have a significant chance of developing an active TB infection.  If left untreated, two-thirds of those with active TB infection will die after infecting up to 7 more people.

TB High-Burden Countries
In 2007, more than 9 million people had an active TB infection and there were nearly 2 million deaths from TB in that same year.  Thirty-four percent of active TB cases occurred in Southeast Asia, 31% occurred in Africa and 21% occurred in the West Pacific.  Fifteen percent of active TB cases were HIV associated TB and 79% of those cases occurred in Africa.  HIV is the single most important factor contributing to the increase of TB incidence in Africa since 1990.

Asia

• India has the largest number of TB cases of any country worldwide, accounting for almost 30% of the global TB burden.  Almost 3.5 million people are living with TB in India and about 329,000 people die each year from TB (about 40 people every hour-almost 1,000 people every day).  TB kills more people in India than HIV, malaria and other communicable diseases combined.
• China ranks second in the world for number of TB cases where TB is the leading infectious killer.  China’s HIV/AIDS epidemic is rising at a rapid pace threatening to cause a dramatic increase in the number of new cases.

Africa
Africa has the highest rates of TB and the worst treatment outcomes globally.  At the same time, Africa faces the largest funding gap of any region in the world.  In 2005, WHO and Africa’s health ministers declared TB a continent-wide emergency.  Out of the 22 high-burden countries reported by the WHO, ten are in Sub-Saharan Africa: Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Sudan.

• Africa’s TB epidemic is driven by weak health systems and fueled by the TB/HIV co-epidemic.
• Annual new TB cases have quadrupled since 1990.
• Diagnosis of TB in Sub-Saharan Africa faces some of the greatest challenges due to lack of infrastructure.

Chest X-ray’s role in TB Screening
Under the WHO DOTS TB detection and case management strategy, chest X-ray (CXR) had been relegated to a minor role in TB screening.  Sputum smear was recommended as the first step, employing CXR only when the sputum smear test was negative but TB was still suspected.  However, the role of CXR was revisited under the WHO STOP TB strategy which was rolled out in 2006.  The WHO Global Task Force on Impact Measurement now recommends that CXR be included in the first examination along with sputum smear when TB is suspected in HIV prevalent settings.  This applies to all of Sub-Saharan Africa and many countries where HIV and TB incidence are rising simultaneously.

 

 

*NOTE:  Remi-d has not yet been submitted for approval to the FDA.  There are significant risks and uncertainties in product research and development.  Scientific and regulatory hurdles may cause the project to be discontinued or delayed or fail to reach the market.  There can be no guarantee that Remi-d will receive regulatory approval, or that it will be commercially successful. 

 

 

Back to WHITIA's Homepage