Stop TB Partnership member, Eli Lilly and Company, has announced it is to help strengthen multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) control through a US $680,000 donation to the Stop TB Partnership and WHO Stop TB.

It brings to more than US $1.5 million the total amount given to WHO Stop TB by Lilly* through a series of grants dating back to 2003, aimed at addressing the growing problem of MDR-TB.

Dr. Marcos Espinal, Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership, welcomed the latest donation:

"We value the commitment shown by Lilly to tackling multidrug-resistant TB. Through this continued commitment, and commitment from other major donors like the Global Fund, we are making important progress in addressing TB drug resistance. The frameworks are established, and they show clearly that even in low-resource settings, MDR-TB management is a good public health investment."

MDR-TB is a form of tuberculosis that does not respond to the standard drug treatment and is caused by incomplete or interrupted treatment of regular TB. It may also arise by direct transmission between patients. WHO estimates that there are 450,000 new cases of MDR-TB every year.

The funding from Lilly will be channeled into projects already in place relating to TB laboratory strengthening, MDR-TB management training, and monitoring of MDR-TB programmes.

These three areas are key to the successful scale-up of MDR-TB management. The lack of laboratory capacity can mean patients are not being diagnosed properly and consequently receive incorrect treatment. Further investment in training and monitoring is also essential under the new Stop TB Strategy, which recommends MDR-TB management be implemented as part of the routine activities of all national TB control programmes.

Lilly has also played an instrumental role in the creation of the Green Light Committee and enabling wider access to two second-line drugs to treat MDR-TB in developing countries by providing them through the Green Light Committee at preferential prices, and transferring technology for the production of these drugs to manufacturers in the four countries hardest hit by MDR-TB.

"Lilly is delighted to continue supporting the work of WHO and the Stop TB Partnership in the area of MDR-TB management. Today we again acknowledge their leadership in TB control through further financial contributions to support their global efforts at halting the spread of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis," said Jacques Tapiero, President of Intercontinental Operations at Lilly.

Facts about MDR-TB

• The Global Plan to Stop TB 2006-2015 outlines actions and resources required to treat 800,000 MDR-TB patients.
• The market costs of second-line MDR-TB drugs can be 20 times more costly than first-line TB drugs, though still cost-effective as a life-saving intervention.
• MDR-TB project teams can apply through the Green Light Committee for access to quality-assured MDR-TB drugs at reduced prices, in some cases by more than 90 percent.
• At the G8 St. Petersburg summit, leaders called for wider recognition of the problem of drug resistance in infectious diseases, including TB, and encouraged greater efforts to address the problem globally.
• The countries of the former Soviet Union and China have the highest rates of MDR-TB. However, MDR-TB has been found in virtually every country were specific surveys have been conducted.
• The collapse of communism in the former Soviet Union led to weakened TB control programmes and the subsequent increase of MDR-TB.
• Eastern European countries are addressing the TB emergency in the region by strengthening control programmes.

*Acceptance of funds from commercial donors does not imply that their products or services are endorsed or recommended by the World Health Organization over any other products or services.