The adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on tuberculosis services has highlighted the urgency of efforts to develop vaccines . Faced with this scenario, DR. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), announced the plan to establish a new Tuberculosis Vaccine Acceleration Council on January 17 at a high-level roundtable on the disease held at the World Economic Forum.
The Council will facilitate the licensing and use of effective innovative tuberculosis vaccines by driving high-level alignment between funders, global agencies, governments and end users to identify and overcome obstacles to the development of tuberculosis vaccines.
“One of the most important lessons from the response to the Covid-19 pandemic is that innovative health interventions can be delivered rapidly if given political priority and adequately funded,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. .
“The challenges posed by tuberculosis and Covid-19 are different, but the ingredients that accelerate science, research and innovation are the same: urgent and early public investment, support from philanthropy and participation of the private sector and communities . We believe that the tuberculosis field will benefit from similar high-level coordination,” he added.
The WHO warns that although countries have firmly committed to ending tuberculosis by 2030, in the Sustainable Development Goals, the WHO End Tuberculosis Strategy and the 2018 political declaration on the fight against tuberculosis, the epidemic shows no signs of slowing down . In 2021, approximately 10.6 million people fell ill with tuberculosis and 1.6 million died . Drug resistance remains a major problem, with nearly half a million people developing drug-resistant tuberculosis each year.
The BCG vaccine is currently the only licensed vaccine against tuberculosis.
Although it offers moderate effectiveness in preventing severe forms of tuberculosis in infants and young children, it does not adequately protect adolescents and adults, who represent about 90% of tuberculosis transmissions in the world.
In a recent study commissioned by the WHO and titled An investment case for new tuberculosis (TB) vaccines , it is estimated that, over 25 years, a vaccine with 50% effectiveness in preventing the disease among adolescents and adults could prevent up to 76 million new cases of tuberculosis, 8.5 million deaths, 42 million antibiotic treatments and US$6.5 billion in costs for households affected by tuberculosis, especially the poorest and most vulnerable.
A vaccine with 75% efficacy could prevent up to 110 million new cases of tuberculosis and 12.3 million deaths. The study further suggests that every dollar invested in a vaccine with 50% efficacy could generate an economic return of US$7 in the form of avoided health costs and increased productivity.
Later this year, Heads of State and Government will meet for a second United Nations high-level meeting on tuberculosis to review progress against commitments made in the 2018 political declaration. This presents a important opportunity to correct setbacks in the tuberculosis response, including the urgent development and delivery of new tuberculosis vaccines.
