Kenya will become the first country to adopt and roll out at the national level the world’s first tuberculosis treatment for children next week.
At least 1 million children are infected with TB every year, and approximately 140,000 children die annually from the disease according to the World Health Organization, though experts fear the number is much higher. The drug’s adoption in Kenya aims to correct a gap in TB treatment that frequently led to incorrect dosages and fueled drug-resistant strains of the disease. The majority of TB-infected children worldwide rely on crushed up, loosely estimated portions of adult dosages, although the roll-out in Kenya is the first of at least three other countries committed at the national level to fixing the problem.
The program comes through a partnership between WHO, Global Alliance for TB Drug Development and UNITAID To develop and bring the drug through clinical trials, and will be implemented by the Kenyan government, local and international partners, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The collaboration will also serve as a model for the 17 other countries planning to adopt and roll-out the drug in coming years. The partnership has created new opportunities for these and other organizations to work together across sectors on issues facing children.
About the author
Molly Andersmollyanders_dev
Molly Anders is a former U.K. correspondent for Devex. Based in London, she reports on development finance trends with a focus on British and European institutions. She is especially interested in evidence-based development and women’s economic empowerment, as well as innovative financing for the protection of migrants and refugees. Molly is a former Fulbright Scholar and studied Arabic in Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco.
