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Launch of TB PAN-NET

TB PAN‐NET launches research consortium to fight drug‐resistant tuberculosis in Europe, Brussels, 24 March 2009

BrusselsTB PAN‐NET, a new scientific pan‐European multidisciplinary network of 27 partners was officially launched on World TB Day. The network will tackle the alarming threat of a re‐emergence in Europe of a fatal form of tuberculosis - multidrug‐resistant tuberculosis (MDR‐TB) and extensively drug‐resistant tuberculosis (XDR‐TB). According to a 2008 World Health Organisation (WHO) report on TB, approximately seven people die from the disease each hour in Europe alone. Europe also has the highest incidence of drug‐resistant TB strains, lowest detection rates, and is one of the world's worst regions in terms of treatment outcomes.


"The major problem with MDR‐TB is twofold; firstly, most MDR‐cases go undetected, and secondly, treatment is inadequate due to lack of the necessary drugs," said Dr. Daniela Cirillo, TB PAN‐NET's project coordinator. "This propagates the spread of MDR‐TB across the European region. TB PAN‐NET will aim to substantially improve detection rates as well as the treatment outcomes of MDR‐TB."

The network will receive funding  from the European Commission's Seventh Framework Research programme (FP7). Key to its success is the need for effective clinical management and access to better drugs in managing a pending TB‐crisis in Europe. A major component of TB PAN‐NET will be carried out by a clinical research collaboration within the European Respiratory Society known as the TBNET.

Dr. Andrea Gori, Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Department of Internal Medicine of San Gerardo Hospital, Italy, and a European leader in the field said:

 
"The first objective of TB PAN‐NET is to better understand the magnitude and trends of drug‐resistant TB in Europe by collecting strains and sharing data including information on clinical and social risk factors on MDR‐ and XDR‐TB such as HIV‐infection, immigration, homelessness and poverty. This information will in turn be integrated into an on‐line database, which is crucial for rapid detection and accurate diagnosis."

TBNET will develop a pan‐European patient register consisting of information on the safety, tolerability and efficacy of different drug combinations used in the long term treatment of patients with MDR and XDR‐TB. This information is vital for introducing better treatment options and new drugs against TB.

 

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