NAIROBI, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's health ministry on Tuesday announced the launch of appropriately dosed, child-friendly tuberculosis (TB) medicines.
The improved medicines are easier for caregivers to give and for children to take, and are expected to help improve treatment and child survival from TB.
Director of Medical Services in the health ministry Jackson Kioko said the medicines are expected to improve treatment and child survival from TB and in return move the country towards a generation free from the disease.
"TB, which is the fourth leading cause of death in Kenya, can be treated but there were previously no child-friendly formulations of medicines in the right dosage. With the launch of the new medicines, Kenya will play a leading role in the fight against childhood TB," Kioko said during the launch in Nairobi.
Starting Oct. 1, all children in Kenya who will be initiated on TB treatment will be given the improved formulation.
"Childhood TB is a problem that can be solved when we choose to act," said Dr Enos Masini, Head of Kenya's National Tuberculosis, Leprosy and Lung Disease Program.
Tuberculosis still remains a major killer of children. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 1 million children suffer from TB each year and 140,000 children die of this preventable, treatable and curable disease.
In 2015, Kenya reported nearly 7,000 cases of TB in infants and children, with those under age five at greatest risk of having severe forms of TB and dying from the disease.
Previously, caregivers had to cut or crush multiple, bitter-tasting pills in an attempt to achieve the right doses for children.
This made the six-month treatment journey difficult for children and their families, contributing to treatment failure and death from the disease.
The treatments now being introduced are the first to meet the WHO's guidelines for childhood TB treatment. They are not new drugs, but improved formulations that come in the correct doses, require fewer pills, are flavoured and dissolve in water.
The development of the medicines was overseen by TB Alliance, an international not-for-profit organization, and was funded by UNITAID and other partners.
"These new treatments won't have an impact until they reach the children that need them," said Dr Cherise Scott, Director of Pediatric Programs, TB Alliance, "We are proud to partner with the Government of Kenya, the first of many countries, as they work to translate the potential of these medicines into lives saved."
TB testing and treatment is free at all public health facilities in Kenya and if any member of the household is diagnosed with the disease, all other household members should be tested for TB, especially children.
