Tuberculosis: The Extremely Rare Case of Narendra

Since 2006, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been providing ambulatory medical and psychosocial care for people in Mumbai living with drug-resistant tuberculosis (DRTB), HIV, hepatitis C, or a combination of these diseases. The majority of the patients are HIV positive who require second or third line treatment. Narendra* is one of only two percent of drug-resistant TB patients in need that have access to these new drugs.

MSF and other treatment providers are showing that stronger TB regimens containing one of the new TB drugs (bedaquiline or delamanid) combined with ‘re-purposed’ drugs (drugs that are not specifically developed for TB but that have shown efficacy in treating TB) can significantly improve the health of people with drug-resistant TB. There is an urgent need to increase people’s access to these more effective treatments by making them affordable and available.

*Patient's name has been changed