Kenya is set to become the first country in the world to introduce child-friendly tuberculosis medicines on Oct 1.
Some 155,000 children with TB are set to benefit across 18 countries that have already ordered the new medicines and are preparing to roll them out, starting with Kenya, according to the TB Alliance campaign group that oversaw their development.
Kenya’s Health Minister, Cleopa Mailu said in a statement on Tuesday that with the appropriate treatment rapid progress would be made in finding and treating children with TB hence achieving a TB free generation.
The improved formulations come in the correct doses for children, are fruit-flavored and dissolve in water, making them easier for children to take.
Previously, caregivers had to cut or crush multiple, bitter-tasting pills to give children the correct dose every day for six months, contributing to treatment failure and death.
The child-friendly drugs are the first products to meet the WHO’s 2010 guidelines for childhood TB treatment, with funding from UNITAID, which is hosted by the WHO, reports Reuters
