To this day, tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the most difficult diseases to effectively treat. The proof is in the numbers. Despite the fact that the standard drug regime for a 6-month course of TB treatment costs less than US$20, and newer patented medicines are widely accessible through deep discounts and robust access programs, each year 1.7 million people worldwide still die from the disease.
In response to this global health challenge, the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals set a target of ending TB globally by 2030. On September 26, world leaders will convene in New York City for the first-ever UN High-Level Meeting (UNHLM) on TB to accelerate efforts to end the disease.
Officials at the upcoming UNHLM should recognize that treating TB is distinctly challenging: it requires advanced diagnostics, trained health care professionals, well-run clinics and effective systems to monitor treatments that are often administered over months. It can’t be addressed with a “quick-fix,” siloed approach. And diminishing intellectual property – an easy target for some groups – will only discourage companies from making risky investments to discover new treatments. If leaders want to see meaningful progress toward ending TB, all parts of society—governments, international organizations, civil society, and the private sector—will need to work together on comprehensive solutions.
The best strategy is deepening and developing partnerships between the public and private sectors. World leaders should recognize the potentially game-changing synergies from combining the resources and reach of the public sector with the expertise and efficiency of private companies. Medicines are one of our best defenses in stopping the spread of communicable diseases like TB, and the global biopharmaceutical sector has the unique and valuable expertise needed to bring much-needed, innovative TB treatments to patients around the world. In fact, the first new anti-TB drugs in 50 years were recently discovered through private sector research and development (R&D). To fully realize the potential of these discoveries, governments and international organizations will need to deepen and expand their cooperation with the private sector. Fortunately, leaders like World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros are publicly committing to engage with the private sector, which he called “crucial partners in achieving health for all.”
But there are challenges ahead. Despite these recent breakthroughs, investment in R&D for new TB medicines has declined over the last decade. Meanwhile, cases of more difficult to treat, drug resistant TB have risen. New treatments – no matter how groundbreaking – often fail to reach patients that need them due to unequipped and underfunded health systems. The fight against TB, now more than ever, requires a progressive, collaborative, multi-sectoral partnership approach.
The fight against TB is not easy. For the international community to meet its goal of ending TB by 2030, both the private and public sectors must work together, completing each other’s efforts. Reaching this goal will be no small feat, but smart public-private partnerships offer a promising way forward. As world leaders convene later this month for the UNHLM on TB, they should commit themselves to encouraging these partnerships. Millions of lives depend on it.
