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For immediate release (December 1, 2015)
GAFFI RECOGNISES WORLD AIDS DAY BY APPLYING FOR
ITRACONAZOLE TO BE INCLUDED ON ESSENTIAL MEDICINES LIST
Pioneering health charity GAFFI (Global Action Fund for Fungal Infections) is
today* calling on the World Health Organisation (WHO) to help hundreds of
thousand of AIDS and HIV positive patients worldwide by including
itraconazole on the Essential Medicine List.
GAFFI’s application to WHO, in collaboration with the International
Foundation for Dermatology, pinpoints key fungal diseases in AIDS for which
itraconazole is crucial. Itraconazole suspension is ~70% effective for
fluconazole resistant oral thrush, and is the treatment of choice for
eosinophilic folliculitis, a debilitating, itchy rash associated with HIV infection.
Patients with Talaromyces marneffei infection (previously called penicilliosis)
and common in SE Asia, also respond really well to itraconazole, as do those
with coccidioidomycosis and paracoccidioidomycosis in the Americas.
Numerous skin fungal infections in adults and children with HIV infection are
not adequately treated with the drug, griseofulvin, which remains on the EML.
Dr David Denning, President of GAFFI and Professor of Infectious Disease in
Global Health at The University of Manchester explained: “Every two years
WHO calls for revision to the EML, and the deadline is today - World AIDS
Day (December 1*). It is remarkable that such a workhorse antifungal such as
itraconazole, which has been available since 1991, has not been included on
the EML previously. Registered in most countries, itraconazole will provide the
first effective oral antifungal for mould infections and endemic mycoses such
as histoplasmosis.”
Professor Rod Hay of the International Foundation for Dermatology stated:
“Itraconazole is a highly effective oral antifungal for many skin, hair and nail
fungal infections. These are more problematic in HIV infected people, and so
the inclusion of itraconazole on the EML will benefit huge numbers of adults
and children with these infections. Given that nearly 1 billion people have skin
fungal infection, and at least 200 million children, the potential impact of this
development is enormous.”
The availability and cost of itraconazole in most countries is shown on these
maps and demonstrates the gaps in access to antifungal treatments:
www.gaffi.org/why/burden-of-disease-maps/ Itraconazole is available and
approved in most countries, but not all, notably Senegal, Algeria, Afghanistan,
Barbados, and Eritrea. It is approved in Dominican Republic, Iraq, Nepal and
Ukraine, but not available.
Please contact Susan Osborne, Director of Communications at The
Goodwork Organisation, on 07836 229208.
Global Action Fund for Fungal Infections (GAFFI) is an international
foundation based in Geneva focussed on improving the survival and health of
those with serious fungal infections, through universal access to diagnosis
and treatment. GAFFI’s efforts are through advocacy, estimating the national
burden of disease in each country and health professional education.
Demonstration projects are planned in Kenya and Guatemala, and improved
diagnostics are in development. www.gaffi.org Amongst GAFFI’s priority
diseases, are histoplasmosis and chronic pulmonary aspergillosis for which
itraconazole is a key antifungal. Fluconazole, which is on the EML, has no
activity in aspergillosis and is inferior to fluconazole for histoplasmosis, a
fungus that lives in the environment.
The International Foundation for Dermatology was established to improve
the care of patients with skin disease, sexually transmitted infections and
Leprosy in underserved areas of the world.