Massive TB vaccine trial underway in SA: 'A lot of hope has been put on this'
Around 20,000 people will form part of the trial that takes place across seven countries.
Gugs Mhlungu spoke to GP and Proactive Health Solutions CEO, Dr Fundile Nyati.
Listen to their conversation in the audio clip below.
It's been over a century since a new tuberculosis (TB) vaccine has been produced.
A massive clinical trial of an experimental TB vaccine, called M72/AS01E (M72 for short), is currently underway at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
The hope is to develop the first new vaccine since the Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine.
"We in South Africa are at the forefront of this phase3 trial which is led by one of our experts based at Wits University."
- Dr Fundile Nyati, GP and Proactive Health Solutions CEO
Around 20,000 people form part of the trial that also takes place in Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Kenya, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
It's reported that between 50% and 60% of the study participants will come from South Africa.
The trial will be running for about five years.
Nyati explains that TB is one of the trickiest germs out there.
"It takes at least four different drugs, at any point, to be able to corner it and treat it effectively."
- Dr Fundile Nyati, GP and Proactive Health Solutions CEO
Nyati says there has been a big vacuum as far as TB vaccination is concerned.
"When a baby is born in South Africa, they get a BCG vaccine at birth that gives them protection in childhood. There is no vaccine that is really working if someone is a teenager or even an adult."
- Dr Fundile Nyati, GP and Proactive Health Solutions CEO
If all goes well, the new vaccine will be the first of its kind to protect teenagers and adults from TB.
Scroll up to listen to the full interview.