Media statements

MRC, WHO and KwaZulu-Natal DoH to fight TB together

The South African Medical Research Council and the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Department of Health have signed a memorandum of agreement to research new ways of fighting the spiralling TB epidemic in South Africa and Africa.

This is the first time that such a collaboration is taking place in the area of TB research in South Africa.

'After 30 years of TB research that has seen the epidemic grow from strength to strength, we might finally have research that will produce interventions that will make a dent in the epidemic,' said MRC president Prof Anthony MBewu of the planned investigations contained in the memorandum of agreement.

In addition, this collaboration is being supported by the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR). 'To optimise the functioning of national TB control programmes, research must be embedded as a routine component of  control activities. This collaboration contributes significantly to promoting the use of research as an effective tool to enhance the delivery capacity of TB control programmmes,' says Philip Onyebujoh, TB/HIV research coordinator, WHO/TDR, Geneva.

The memorandum of agreement details several innovative research projects, the most important of which is a WHO-sponsored clinical trial that will aim to reduce the mortality rates due to TB in HIV-positive persons by treating both infections at the same time. Another very important project is a clinical trial involving new combinations of TB drugs, which might shorten the six-month treatment period to as little as three or four months.

The MOU also involves the establisment of a global TB specimen bank which will contain specimens from distinct geographical sites around the world. The specimens will be used to assist in the development and evaluation of new products for the diagnosis of tuberculosis, appropriate for use in low-income countries.