Huffington Post: Bridging The Gap Between Tuberculosis Innovation And Access
Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health at McGill University, director of McGill Global Health Programs, and associate director of the McGill International TB Centre; and Jennifer Furin, lecturer in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, infectious diseases specialist, and medical anthropologist

“…At long last, new diagnostics and drugs [for TB] have emerged. … But … availability does not necessarily result in widespread access. … There are many barriers to adoption and scale-up of new tools: lack of adequate funding to national TB programs, regulatory hurdles, high cost of tools, restrictive policies, bureaucratic apathy, implementation failures, and, in the case of new drugs, a desire to protect the drug (as opposed to protecting patients) coupled with excessive concern about potential side effects … The clock is ticking and urgent action is needed if we are committed to ending TB in a mere 13 years. This means embracing innovation, increasing financial investments in TB, addressing implementation gaps, and making sure that new technologies are available in the service of those who are trying to survive…” (5/2).