Written Answers | International Development: Tuberculosis

Andrew George MP (St Ives, Liberal Democrat)

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department has taken to encourage industrial development of (a) diagnostics, (b) drugs and (c) vaccines for tuberculosis; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of these steps.

 

 

 

Stephen O’Brien (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, International Development; Eddisbury, Conservative)

The Department for International Development (DFID) is supporting a number of product development partnerships to encourage industrial development of new diagnostics, drugs and vaccines for tuberculosis. This includes support to the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND); the Global Alliance for TB Drugs; and the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation. These initiatives are making progress. For instance, FIND has helped develop a new diagnostic for rapid detection of TB (‘GenXpert’). This may help shorten the time to diagnosis and cut transmission, thus preventing new cases in future. FIND are also working on how they can adapt these tools for use in more peripheral settings.