The Globe and Mail
Headline: Virtual pharmacy for TB gives remarkable results
By ANDRé PICARD
PUBLIC HEALTH REPORTER
Saturday, October 5, 2002 – Print Edition,
Page A4
In July, 2000, at a meeting of Group of Eight leaders in Okinawa,
Japan, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien delivered one of those addresses that politicians
love to make at international gatherings, pledging that Canada was going to do more to
fight infectious disease in the developing world and singling out tuberculosis as of
particular concern.
It has led to remarkable results.
At the time, international public-health officials were casting about for money for a novel experiment: creating a virtual pharmacy to distribute TB drugs in some of the world's poorest countries.
Canada, to fulfill the PM's promise, decided to underwrite the modest $15-million startup costs and has since given another $5-million.
One year after the first delivery from the Global Drug Facility, 1.6 million infected people have been treated, and at least one million cured of TB, one of the world's leading killers.
The approach is so simple and so successful that there are now plans to cure at least 40 million TB patients in the next decade, reversing a centuries-old epidemic.
"What Canada has done is farsighted and visionary," Ian Smith, manager of the facility, said in an interview from Geneva. "It really goes against the grain of what is being done in the foreign-aid field, but it has given such good results that many other countries are now following suit."
The Global Drug Facility employs a handful of officials tucked away in a little office of the World Health Organization in Geneva. They negotiate with drug companies for better prices for TB drugs, wade through requests from countries that are hard hit by the disease, and ensure that when drugs are delivered, treatment is carried out properly.
Tomorrow in Montreal, Canada will be honoured with a special medal from the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease to recognize its commitment to fighting TB. The prize was last awarded in 1995.
Minister of International Co-operation Susan Whelan, who will accept the award, said that Ottawa has been "very pleased and surprised" with the honour. She noted that fighting TB has been a major area of investment for the Canadian International Development Agency. The minister said the Global Drug Facility has become the cornerstone of the program, and it will change the way foreign-aid dollars are spent.
Anne Fanning, chairwoman of Stop TB Canada and a professor at the University of Alberta, also praised the Canadian initiative.
The economic cost of TB is about $12-billion (U.S.) a year, but the total cost of curing all TB cases in a year is only $1.1-billion," Dr. Fanning said. "What a deal! I wish the stock market gave this sort of return."
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