‘My world looks like a TV with no signal after infection stole my sight’
A ‘dream come true’ drug is on the brink of a national rollout in the Philippines, and could transform life for thousands with resistant TB
The following is an excerpt from an article authored by Sarah Newey and published in The Telegraph on September 20, 2023
At first, Louie Zepeda-Teng’s world turned blue. But as the bacteria enveloped her brain, resistant to the drugs pumping around her body, a circular haze cut off all but her peripheral vision. Soon, even that was gone.
…
At the time, the only cure available for multidrug resistant TB was a gruelling 24-month course of toxic tablets and painful injections, with a success rate of around 40 per cent.
…
But now, 16 years later, a “dream come true” alternative is on the brink of a nationwide rollout.
In 2021, the Philippines was among the first countries to adopt a “revolutionary” new treatment for multidrug resistant TB, known as BPaL, in a pilot programme. And next month, it is set to be introduced in hospitals across the vast archipelago.
“It’s amazing, to see a six-month treatment for drug resistant TB – it blows my mind,” says Dr Quelapio, who coordinated the initial use of BPaL in the Philippines. “Two decades ago, who would’ve thought it was possible? It was unimaginable… this is a dream come true.”