RAA Foundation procured and distributed through Global Fund over 2,5 tones of MDR-TB medicines
March 24th, 2009
The statistics show that Tuberculosis is - in most cases - curable with the help of regular anti-TB medicines. Among these there are situations when the bacillus that causes the disease becomes or already is resistant to the regular therapy, what leads the multidrug resistant TB phenomenon (MDR-TB). This disease is more serious than the regular tuberculosis having a much higher impact on the body's defense capacity and leading to redoubtable complications.
MDR-TB requires a long-term therapy very expensive and quite hard to endure by a patient due to the side effects. Even if the treatment is correctly administrated under the specialist physician observation, the chances to cure for a MDR-TB patient are of the most 60%. Due to this, MDR-TB is considered to be one of the nowadays' biggest challenges.
Unfortunately, Romania has a top-ranking position with regards to the number of MDR-TB patients: 800 persons identified every year with this form of tuberculosis, considering the fact that only 20% of new tuberculosis cases are tested for MDR-TB and that only 50% of the cases who previously benefited of treatment. Under these circumstances, ensuring the proper treatment for every case as such need significant material and human efforts.
In order to help these patients, who find themselves in a difficult situation, the Romanian Angel Appeal Foundation procured and distributed through the Global Fund finance, over 2,5 tones of second-line anti tuberculosis medicines, calculated for the MDR-TB forms. A number of 160 patients with this form of tuberculosis will benefit of therapy in one of the two national centers for MDR-TB treatment: The Pneumophtyziology Institute "Marius Nasta" in Bucharest and Bisericani Hospital, Neamt county.
Only in the first week after having procured the medicines, 48 MDR-TB patients had already started the treatment, hopefully with a real success. During next year, it is foreseen to supplement the procurement for another 320 patients with this type of tuberculosis.
Within the press release launched with this occasion, the RAA Foundation re-launched its appeal submitted to the Ministry of Health, Romanian Government and Parliament for allocating the necessary funds for diagnosis and treatment applied for all the TB and MDR-TB patients, having in the same time the attention towards the danger represented by MDR-TB transmission among the general population, which could generate a very difficult situation to control.
