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India is getting ready to roll out the BPaL regimen for all multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) patients.
The training for this new exercise is scheduled to begin this month
Scaling up nucleic acid amplification test, or NAAT coverage will be an essential element of the strategy
Bpal
The BPaL regimen is an innovative treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) that utilizes three drugs: bedaquiline, pretomanid, and linezolid.
Unlike traditional DR-TB treatments spanning 18 months, BPaL is shorter, lasting just 26 weeks.
Early findings exhibit an 85%+ cure rate, markedly surpassing conventional DR-TB treatment's 60-65% cure rate
Generally safe, BPaL leads to manageable side effects, including linezolid-induced neuropathy and reduced hemoglobin and platelet counts.
BPaL is an all oral treatment, patients no longer have to undergo painful daily injections
WHO has approved regimens containing pretomanid for all forms of drug-resistant TB.
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