World Tuberculosis Day 2022: Saving lives
"Invest to end TB. Save Lives" is the theme of this year's World Tuberculosis Day, which annually on 24 March commemorates the relevance and worldwide spread of this deadly infectious disease. As an associated partner of the international research consortium UNITE4TB (short for: "Academia and industry united innovation and treatment for tuberculosis"), the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) – together with the LMU University Hospital Munich – plays a leading role in research efforts to combat the spread and severity of this deadly disease.
The annual World Tuberculosis Day is a reminder that TB continues to be one of the leading causes of death worldwide, with 10 million new cases and 1.5 million deaths per year. Despite significant successes in controlling the disease in recent decades, the spread of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis bacteria and the multiple negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have set back global progress in the fight against tuberculosis by years.
TB is preventable and curable
The UNITE4TB research platform − launched in 2021 and funded with 185 million Euros for seven years – enables academic institutions and industry to jointly pursue the development of effective combinations for urgently needed new tuberculosis therapies and acceleration of their clinical evaluation.
Within the framework of UNITE4B and other projects, DZIF scientists are driving the development of new TB drugs as well as of new biomarkers for personalised treatment of TB patients. Using state-of-the-art diagnostic methods, the researchers also monitor the occurrence and spread of tuberculosis in European and African populations. Learn more about tuberculosis research at the DZIF.
Investments save lives
With the help of modern therapies and sufficient resources, the spread of the disease could be stopped. In its global strategy to end TB, the World Health Organization in 2018 set the ambitious goal of reducing the number of tuberculosis deaths by 90% and the spread of TB by 80% by the year 2030 (compared to 2015). To achieve this target, however, more investment in TB-related activities is urgently needed.
“In the UNITE4TB project − for the first time in the history of TB drug research − all manufacturers with drugs in phase 2 are working together to develop novel regimens. This will enable a faster delivery of much-needed combination therapies,“
Prof Michael Hoelscher, Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine of the LMU University Hospital Munich, coordinator of the DZIF-research programme „Tuberculosis“ and co-initiator and scientific lead of UNITE4TB
The UNITE4TB project has received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No 101007873. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA, German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), and Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (LMU). EFPIA/AP contribute to 50% of funding, whereas the contribution of DZIF and the LMU University Hospital Munich has been granted by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
