Kuhes seeks to shorten TB treatment duration

Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (Kuhes) has embarked on a project to find new ways to shorten the administration of tuberculosis (TB) treatment from the current six months.

Speaking in an interview on the sidelines of a two-day TB Research Networking Conference in Blantyre held from Tuesday to Wednesday, Kuhes infectious diseases scientist Dr. Hussein Twabi said the current TB drug treatment which takes up to six months result in some patients not completing the treatment.

He said: “TB drugs are still taken in six months so people sometimes don’t complete or they complete but then they are not fully treated.

“So, us at Kuhes, we are actually working to investigate new regimens that are going to shorten the treatment for tuberculosis and also more efficacious that is going to result in complete elimination of the disease from each individual or patients.”

Twabi said aside from delays in finishing treatment, another challenge is failure by patients to be fully treated despite taking the medication in a prescribed period; hence, Kuhes is also exploring treatment with high efficacy to completely eradicate the disease from individuals.

National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Elimination Programme research care and treatment officer Dr. Tisungane Mwenyemukulu in a separate interview said one of the key issues at present is that of active case finding and strategies being used.

“Most of the studies have shown that there is a link in terms of the missing cases and what we ought to do to ensure we are able to optimise and find those missing cases. The essence is that we find them and enrol them into care,” he said.

Mwenyemukulu further said that irrespective of such challenges, efforts being put in place are steering progress in the fight against TB in the country.

He said mortality cases have been on the decline based on pragmatic research carried out by the National TB Leprosy Elimination Programme as well as other key players in the field of TB related research.

The research network conference brought together all key players in the field of TB related research from academia, implementing partners including the National TB Leprosy Elimination Programme, among others.

The conference provided a platform to showcase studies happening in the realm of TB related research.