World TB Day is less than a week away on March 24th, so I though this would be a good opportunity to discuss the current state of Tuberculosis and what Nutra Pharma is doing to help those affected by it.

Before I began at Nutra Pharma in 2002, I thought Tuberculosis was a disease of the past. What I didn’t realize is that it not only exists, but affects over 14 million people worldwide.

As an “opportunistic” or “dual-epidemic” disease, Tuberculosis primarily infects patients that already have a suppressed immune system – generally from HIV infections. Because of this, it’s more commonly found in places with higher incidence rates of HIV and AIDS, including Africa, India and other parts of Southeast Asia.

One of the many exciting initiatives that we’re working on here at Nutra Pharma is a new diagnostic test kit for the rapid detection of Tuberculosis. Our medical devices subsidiary, Designer Diagnostics, is developing these kits with the goal to find Tuberculosis while it’s still in a patient’s digestive tract and before it enters the blood stream. We hope that by detecting it early enough, we can save lives.

The United States and other developed countries have advanced scientific laboratories that can rapidly detect Tuberculosis. This, however, is not the case in developing countries. It’s in these areas that we’re focusing our attention. By making our test kits faster – 8 to 10 days instead of 8 to 10 weeks, less costly, and requiring no refrigeration or expensive lab equipment, we plan on reaching millions of additional patients.

I could go on for several more paragraphs about the benefits of our test kits, but I’ll let them speak for themselves once we complete our development and third-party validation. In the meantime, I’d like to share some additional facts about Tuberculosis and several online resources where you can learn more about current initiatives to eradicate Tuberculosis worldwide.

Facts from the Stop TB Partnership:

• In 2005 the rate of new cases of TB worldwide leveled off for the first time since the World Health Organization began collecting data about the disease. And the rate at which TB is detected has doubled since 2000.

• Despite recent progress, TB remains a massive global public health problem, with nearly 9 million new cases and more than a million-and-a-half deaths each year. Greater commitment by governments to fighting TB in their countries is needed now. So is greater commitment by donors to finance TB care and research into new drugs, new diagnostics and new vaccines.

• There is now evidence that that countries most heavily affected by TB can reap on average a 10-fold return on investments in TB diagnosis and treatment, on condition that they implement the Stop TB Partnership’s Global Plan to Stop TB. The Plan sets out a roadmap for confronting the disease over the next eight years. Human suffering was reason enough to fight TB — now we know that addressing the disease can help stop poverty too.

• We will never eliminate TB without new and more effective drugs, diagnostics and vaccines. Today’s most commonly used TB diagnostic, sputum microscopy, is more than 100 years old and lacks sensitivity. Today’s TB drugs are more than 40 years old and must be taken for six to nine months. Today’s TB vaccine, which is more than 85 years old, provides some protection against severe forms of TB in children but is unreliable against pulmonary TB. Simpler, faster drug regimens that treat all forms of TB; rapid, more accurate diagnostic tools to quickly detect TB; and a vaccine that will be effective in preventing TB in people of all ages are urgently needed.

Online Resources:

Stop TB Partnership
http://www.stoptb.org
An international organization founded in 2000 to eliminate tuberculosis as a public health problem

Foundation for new and Innovative Diagnostics (FIND)
http://www.finddiagnostics.org
Developing rapid, accurate and affordable diagnostic tests through public-private partnerships. FIND is funded in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Stop TB Now
http://www.stoptbnow.com
A Website sponsored by Nutra Pharma and Designer Diagnostics to educate the public about Tuberculosis

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
http://www.theglobalfund.org/en
Financing a dramatic turn-around in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria

SEC Disclaimer
This article contains forward-looking statements. The words or phrases "would be," "will allow," "intends to," "will likely result," "are expected to," "will continue," "is anticipated," "estimate," "project," or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements." Actual results could differ materially from those projected in Nutra Pharma's ("the Company") business plan. The Company's business is subject to various risks, which are discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The above article, " The Current State of Tuberculosis and How We’re Helping", should not be construed as an indication in any way whatsoever of: (a) the Company’s financial value; and/or (b) any predictive value of the Company’s future stock price. The Company's filings may be accessed at the SEC's Edgar system at www.sec.gov. Statements made herein are as of the date of this press release and should not be relied upon as of any subsequent date. The Company cautions readers not to place reliance on such statements. Unless otherwise required by applicable law, we do not undertake, and we specifically disclaim any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect occurrences, developments, unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statement.

               

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