There are several sites in Africa and Asia that have developed or
are in the process of developing clinical research capacity to make
these kinds of approaches feasible.
In conclusion, there is a pressing need to evaluate drugs such as
TDZ in clinical trials for the therapy of XDR-TB as described above.
To conduct these global trials there is the need to create international
laboratories to serve as centres for rapid identification of
XDR-TB patients and that can accurately characterise the resistance
spectrum. The situation is urgent; we must work fast and secure the
support needed to perform international standard regulatory studies
that will influence TB programmes. Thus, we must create the
political will within each country, as support from the respective
governments and their health agencies is vital for any success. It is
the responsibility of the whole healthcare community to support
endeavours to develop new treatments for XDR-TB urgently. Please
join us and the supporters of global trials for therapy of XDR-TB
identified in this article.
Funding: No funding sources.
Competing interests: None declared.
Ethical approval: Not required.