Johnson & Johnson Partners with Global Health Committee in the Fight against Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Ethiopia

Innovative GHC programs bring life-saving medicines, build capacity for care

The Global Health Committee has announced a new partnership with Johnson & Johnson focused on supporting access to medication and care services for Ethiopian men, women and children suffering from drug-resistant tuberculosis.

The support from Johnson & Johnson allows the GHC to maintain and expand its unique in-country program, which combines treatment, training and innovative patient-centered strategies to deliver high cure rates in an impoverished and severely ill population.

“The support from Johnson & Johnson will save many lives,” says GHC co-founder Dr. Anne Goldfeld. “Our goal is to make Ethiopia the first African nation to eradicate drug-resistant TB. This partnership will allow us to expand our work in the southern part of the country and make real progress towards that goal.”

Cases of tuberculosis resistant to several standard antibiotics (multidrug resistant TB or MDR-TB) are increasing rapidly worldwide. Highly infectious, MDR-TB takes a devastating human toll and presents a public health crisis in countries with few resources to support the complicated, intensive and years-long treatment required to cure the disease.

In 2009, GHC was the first organization to begin work in Ethiopia to treat people with MDR-TB. Through a partnership between GHC and the Ethiopian Ministry of Health, citizens for the first time got access to life-saving drugs and medical care, coupled with intensive nutritional, educational and psychological support. The model of care was first developed in Cambodia, where GHC’s sister organization, the Cambodian Health Committee (CHC), originated countrywide MDR-TB treatment.

CHC/GHC’s multidisciplinary, intensive program is producing superior results. Of the first 600 patients treated in Ethiopia, 79% completed treatment, despite severely limited resources and many patients with advanced disease. That number is well above the WHO goal of 75% and better than any other program in Africa to date. And, each cure prevents an average of 10 new infections, amplifying the value of effective treatment.

GHC and the Ministry expanded the program in 2010 and again in 2012. GHC now serves multiple sites across the country, which have cared for more than 1,600 patients, including approximately 300 children and teens. In addition, GHC provides mentoring and training of healthcare workers, and is participating in a clinical trial testing a new, shortened antibiotic regimen.

But there is much more to be done. Ethiopia, the second largest country in Africa, presents more than 2000 new cases of MDR-TB each year.

“Helping to advance the field of TB and eliminate the threat of MDR-TB is a critical part of Johnson & Johnson’s Global Public Health strategy, and we understand that we cannot do it alone,” said Wim Parys, M.D., Head, R&D Global Public Health, Johnson & Johnson. “Partnering with organizations like GHC, underscores our commitment to supporting scalable, health programs that ensure treatment and care are accessible to the populations that need it most.” 

Early support for GHC’s Ethiopia MDR-TB program came from filmmaker and UN Envoy Angelina Jolie.  Previously, Jolie and Goldfeld pioneered comprehensive care for children suffering from HIV and TB in Cambodia. Later this year, GHC will open the Zahara Children’s Center outside of Addis Ababa, which will be dedicated to the care of children and adolescents suffering with drug resistant TB and with HIV and TB, or who have been impacted by these diseases. 

GHC’s MDR-TB work in Ethiopia has also been supported by the Annenberg Foundation, the Lilly MDR-TB Partnership and the Lilly Foundation. Gifts to GHC from the Blue Oak and Frankel Family Foundations, and by a gift from Jeanne Sullivan. Funds from the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health supported in-country clinical and laboratory infrastructure.