1 day Ago By Idowu Abdullahi
Idowu Abdullahi The World Health Organisation has disclosed that the critical lack of medicines and diagnostic tools for invasive fungal diseases has made treatments difficult for people suffering from infections. This, the global health body said, must be bridged with urgent innovative research and development. In its first-ever report addressing the lack of medicines and diagnostic tools for invasive fungal diseases , published on Tuesday , the WHO said fungal diseases remain an increasing public health concern.
It noted that the concern includes common infections – such as candida, which causes oral and vaginal thrush – growing increasingly resistant to treatment. According to WHO, these infections disproportionately impact severely ill patients and those with weakened immune systems, including individuals undergoing cancer chemotherapy, living with HIV, and those who have had organ transplants. Reacting to the report, WHO Assistant Director-General for Antimicrobial Resistance ad interim, Dr Yukiko Nakatani, said the infections threatened g lobal health.
“Invasive fungal infections threaten the lives of the most vulnerable, but countries lack the treatments needed to save lives. “Not only is the pipeline of new antifungal drugs and diagnostics insufficient, there is a void in fungal testing in low- and middle-income countries, even in district hospitals. “This diagnostic gap means the cause of people’s suffering remains unknown, making it difficult to get them the right treatments,” Nakatani said.
Meanwhile, the global health agency said fungi in its top ‘critical priority’ category of fungal priority pathogens list (FPPL) are deadly, with mortality rates reaching as high as 88 per cent. “Advancements in treatments mean that more people are likely to be living with immunocompromised conditions, which also could mean increases in cases of invasive fungal diseases. This is a complex challenge to manage due to inaccessibility of diagnostic tools, limited availability of antifungal medicines, and a slow and complex R&D process for new treatments,” the statement said.
The WHO’s report on antifungal drugs highlights that, in the past decade, only four new antifungal drugs have been approved by regulatory authorities in the United States of America, the European Union or China. It added that currently, nine antifungal medicines are in clinical development to use against the most health-threatening fungi, as detailed in the FPPL. However, WHO said only three candidates are in phase 3, the final stage of clinical development, meaning few approvals are expected within the next decade.
The health body explained that twenty-two drugs are in preclinical development, which it described as an insufficient number to feed a clinical pipeline considering the dropout rates, risks and challenges associated with earlier development stages. “Issues with current antifungal treatments include serious side effects, frequent drug-drug interactions, limited dosage forms and the need for prolonged hospital stays. The report highlights the urgent need for safer antifungal medicines, possibly reducing requirements for continuous drug monitoring.
“Antifungal medicines that work against a wide range of severe infections caused by fungal priority pathogens are also needed. Children are particularly underserved with few clinical trials exploring paediatric dosing and age-appropriate formulations,” the statement added. WHO, however, recommends investing in global surveillance, expanding financial incentives for drug discovery and development, funding basic research to help identify new and unexploited targets on fungi for medicines, and investigating treatments that work by enhancing patients’ immune responses.
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