From November 15-18, Paris hosted The Union World Conference on Lung Health 2023, one of the most relevant spaces for discussion and presentation of the latest scientific research in all aspects of lung health.
From Peru, the Partners In Health (SES) team was present actively participating in sessions that allowed us to showcase our main research and work experiences in tuberculosis (TB), COVID-19, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in TB screening.
The day began with a series of events organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the framework of the World Conference of The Union, where SES was involved in the 9th Summit on the End TB Strategy; the annual meeting of the Working Group on Child and Adolescent TB; and the global meeting of the Working Group on Public-Private Partnership for TB Prevention and Care.
In this regard, SES was able to share its experience in the active search for TB with the use of mobile equipment with artificial intelligence, regarding the need raised by the WHO to implement active search strategies plus TB preventive therapy (PTT).
The exchange of experiences was also possible regarding pediatric TB, where the working group launched the Roadmap 2023 to end TB in this vulnerable population, and where SES, as part of the Peruvian Network of pediatric TB, shared its efforts in the implementation of fully oral treatments to pediatric patients.
“Regarding the public-private collaborative work, it was alerted that in Latin America we are not yet seeing this need, but that it exists, and that we must articulate the private as part of health care, being SES the Peruvian experience of how a private entity has obtained permission, through the regulations that the country has, to treat patients with sensitive TB in the SES Polyclinic,” said Dr. Marco Tovar, medical director of SES.
With respect to the development of the Conference of The Union, SES was able to participate in multiple spaces of knowledge exchange that will define the global actions in the fight against tuberculosis. Our team led sessions that addressed local experiences such as:
- Perceptions of adolescents, caregivers and healthcare providers on TB treatment monitoring during the COVID-19 pandemic in Lima, Peru
- Optimization of fluoroquinolone resistance detection using Xpert MTB/XDR and the impact on MDR/RR TB treatment
- In patients with drug-resistant TB, prediabetes may be associated with disease severity
- Impact of comprehensive mental health care delivery on treatment outcomes of depression and MDR-TB in Lima, Peru
Also, the interest of colleagues and researchers from various parts of the world was also placed on the E-posters presented by SES on subjects such as the assessment of TB-related stigma in Peru or the identification of active TB among people seeking to rule out COVID-19 at the first level of care in high TB burden settings.
EndTB: the clinical trial that opens up new treatment options for MDR-TB
During the La Union Conference, the results of the endTB clinical trial, which was led by a team of researchers that included our parent company Partners In Health (PIH) and Socios En Salud, were presented for the first time after six years of hard work.
La doctora Carole Mitnick (Directora de Investigación de Partners In Health para el proyecto endTB, co-investigadora principal del estudio, y profesora de Medicina Global y Medicina Social en la Facultad de Medicina de Harvard) durante la presentación de resultados del ensayo clínico endTB.
The endTB clinical trial enrolled a diverse group of more than 700 participants in seven countries, including Peru, with the goal of optimizing the use of new drugs, such as bedaquiline and delamanid, to treat multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) safely, effectively, and in less time.
The results revealed evidence supporting the use of four new and improved treatments for MDR-TB in children and adults, which emerge as a safe and effective alternative to conventional MDR-TB treatments, which are long, painful, and often cause serious side effects.
“This is a victory for TB-affected communities and a further testament to what it means to us to bring modern science to the benefit of the most vulnerable,” commented Dr. Leonid Lecca, CEO of SES, on this milestone.
In this regard, MDR-TB is one of the most severe forms of common TB. Approximately half a million people fall ill with MDR-TB each year worldwide, and Peru tops the list of countries with the highest number of cases in the Americas region.
That is why it is remarkable that almost 40% of the participants in this clinical trial were Peruvians, which translates into local evidence that will help the Peruvian health system and the world in general to improve MDR-TB treatment regimens.
However, real access to these new treatment options is conditioned to the elimination of all barriers that hinder timely and quality medical care. For this reason, from Socios En Salud and the endTB consortium we will persist in the work of advocating for improved access and affordability of quality treatments against this disease.
.
