BPaL/M Impact Projections Show Communities Fast Track the Saving of Lives and Costs
Not long ago, a diagnosis of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) meant facing nearly two years of painful, complicated treatment, daily injections, hundreds of pills, and uncertain outcomes. For many, it meant lost income, stigma, and years of physical and emotional exhaustion.
But today, a new chapter in DR-TB care is being written. Thanks to the six-month, all-oral BPaL/M regimen, people living with DR-TB are now completing treatment faster, recovering stronger, and reclaiming their lives sooner. This isn’t just progress, it’s transformation!
From Innovation to Impact
Since its approval, BPaL/M has set a new global standard for DR-TB care. Recent projections by Johns Hopkins University shed light on the impact the ongoing scale up of these new regimens will have people with TB and the health systems around the world implementing them.
In just its first fifteen years of use, beginning from approval in 2019, through 2034, BPaL/M is projected to:
Treat over 2 million people (2,037,998) meaning millions will receive a shorter, more effective, and more humane treatment experience.
Save more than 190,000 lives (191,222) compared to previous treatments, each one representing a person who can return to their family, community, and dreams.
Save nearly US$1.3 billion globally, easing the financial burden on health systems and national TB programs.
Restore 5.12 million years of healthy life helping people not only survive TB but recover fully and thrive again.
Scaling New Regimens Benefits People and Health Systems
Today, about 75% of people treated for DR-TB annually receive already BPaL/M. This number projects to reach 90% soon. In addition to the impact of BPaL/M on people after completing treatment, the scale-up of these regimens means improved treatment experiences for people as they receive treatment—reduced side effects, less disruption of their lives, reduced fear and stigma around treatments.
These same benefits are felt by healthcare systems as well. Fewer hospital visits, lower medicine costs, and simpler logistics mean national programs can provide improved services, save money, and expand their reach. The JHU modeling found that BPaL/M reduces the average cost per successful treatment by more than 20%.
Building the Future of Access
Access doesn’t happen automatically. It’s built through advocacy, partnership, and persistence. In fact, in global health it has typically taken newly approved technologies 7-9 years to reach widespread access.
BPaL/M upended that trend. By 2034, the regimens are projected to reach more than two million people.
Initiatives like Fast Track Cure are critical to achieve this scale. Creating a movement of TB survivors, advocates, and communities to educate, advocate, support and empower people receiving treatments, and to engage, inform, and hold accountable decisionmakers and healthcare workers, Fast Track the Cure is one of many programs ensuring scientific breakthroughs translate to real world impact.
This is the future of TB care: people-centered, community-driven, and built on the belief that everyone deserves access to the best that science can offer. Let’s keep pushing. Let’s keep connecting. Let’s #FastTracktheCure.