Prime Highlights
- Mylan launches an 18-month TB support project in Nagpur focused on drug-resistant TB.
- The project targets 26,000 samples, 22,000 households and 450+ nutrition kits.
Key Facts
- Mylan Laboratories, now part of Viatris, is a global pharmaceutical company.
- Viatris has enabled treatment access for over 300,000 drug-resistant TB patients worldwide.
Background
Mylan Laboratories has unveiled a novel tuberculosis program for Nagpur, Maharashtra, which will have a particular emphasis on multidrug-resistant TB. The program has been initiated in collaboration with Doctors For You – a not-for-profit organisation, Nagpur Municipal Corporation, and Nagpur City TB Office under the PPP framework.
TB is still one of the major public health issues in India, where Nagpur district is experiencing increasing problems with providing tuberculosis preventive treatment and developing molecular diagnostics. The 18-month program will be consistent with the National Tuberculosis Elimination Program launched by the Government of India that is following the Detect-Treat-Prevent-Build approach. It covers timely and accurate diagnosis, TB preventive treatment uptake among household contacts, nutritional support for TB and drug-resistant TB patients, and coordination across diagnostic, preventive and support services.
Key interventions under the project include processing more than 26,000 samples across four locations in Nagpur district, household tracing targeting 22,000 households of confirmed TB and drug-resistant TB patients, and distribution of more than 450 nutrition kits.
Lina Andersson, head of global sustainability at Viatris, said the company had screened more than 1.5 million people for TB in India since 2020, and had supported a TB control initiative reaching over 58,000 people in rural and tribal areas of Gadchiroli district over the past five years, adding that the company looked forward to continued collaboration for the wellbeing of people in Maharashtra.
Dr Abhijit Deshmukh, head of global non-sterile operations at Viatris, said the company remained committed to supporting community health in Maharashtra and aimed to strengthen local TB detection, prevention and patient support efforts. Globally, Viatris has helped enable treatment access for more than 300,000 patients living with drug-resistant TB.
