Drug Donation Supports the World Health
Organization (WHO) Comprehensive Global Health Strategy to
Eliminate Trachoma which Disproportionally Affects the Poorest of
the Poor
Pfizer Inc. announced today it will extend its donation of the
antibiotic Zithromax® (azithromycin) to the International Trachoma
Initiative through 2025, building on the company’s 20-years
of work to help eliminate the world’s leading infectious cause of
blindness. Approximately 163 million people are at risk of
developing the disease and this recommitment ensures that Pfizer,
through the International Trachoma Initiative (ITI), will continue
to provide trachoma endemic countries with donated antibiotics that
are a critical component of the global strategy to eliminate this
neglected tropical disease (NTD).
Pfizer’s continued donation program will help accelerate
significant progress made in the last decade to reduce trachoma
through increased donations, resulting in a roughly 50 percent
decrease in the number of people at risk of trachoma worldwide
today compared to 2011.
Pfizer’s donation through 2025, should it be needed, ensures
Zithromax will be available to help all endemic countries reach
their targets to achieve the worldwide elimination of trachoma.
Recently, Nepal became the sixth country to be validated by the WHO
as having eliminated trachoma, joining Oman, Morocco, Mexico,
Cambodia and Lao PDR.
Several other countries have either submitted documentation for
validation by the WHO or are fast approaching elimination targets.
In Uganda, for example, the number of people at risk of trachoma
has decreased dramatically, from 10 million four years ago to less
than 300,000 today.
“Trachoma affects the poorest of the poor and traps millions in
a cycle of poverty,” said Caroline Roan, Vice President, Corporate
Responsibility, Pfizer Inc. “We are grateful for our partnership
with the global health community over the past 20 years, and
recognize the importance of our donation in achieving our shared
goal of a trachoma-free world. We are excited to extend our
donation program through 2025 to help eliminate trachoma from even
the most remote communities.”
Trachoma is a treatable and preventable bacterial eye disease
that after repeated infections, can cause eyelids to turn inward
and lashes to scrape the eyeball, causing great pain, corneal
ulcers and over time, irreversible blindness. Trachoma is both a
consequence and a cause of poverty, primarily affecting remote
communities with severely limited access to healthcare, clean water
or sanitation. The disease accounts for an estimated $3-6 billion
USD in lost productivity per year.
Antibiotics are a key part of the WHO-recommended SAFE
strategy for trachoma control (Surgery, Antibiotics,
Facial Cleanliness and Environmental Improvements).
To date, Pfizer has donated more than 740 million doses of
Zithromax through ITI, which was co-founded by Pfizer in 1998 and
collaborates with more than 100 government, non-governmental and
private sector partners to implement the SAFE strategy around the
world.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, whose Carter Center works
with six African countries to eliminate trachoma, was grateful for
Pfizer’s recommitment. “The Carter Center and Pfizer have worked
together for 20 years to help implement a comprehensive strategy
that has proven incredibly effective against trachoma,” said
Carter, 93, who was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, in part for
his work through The Carter Center. “The gains we have made would
not have been possible without Pfizer’s generous commitment to
donating Zithromax. There is still considerable work to be done to
beat trachoma, but with Pfizer’s extended commitment the end is in
reach.”
Recent progress reflects the remarkable impact of the world’s
largest disease mapping initiative – the Global Trachoma Mapping
Project – launched in 2012. Through this effort, our partners
(including Sightsavers, The United Kingdom Department for
International Development, and The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee
Trust) used a smartphone-based app to create a household-level
overview of where trachoma can be found. This data has enabled
Pfizer and ITI to deliver donated antibiotics to affected
communities more efficiently and effectively than ever before.
As a result of this innovative mapping project, “We now know not
only how to eliminate trachoma, but where to find it and which
partners on the ground can help us reach the communities still in
need,” said Dr. Paul Emerson, Director, ITI. “Continued antibiotic
donations are essential to maintaining this progress, and while
much work remains, I am more confident than ever that we can
eliminate this ancient disease within the next decade.”
That’s a goal Pfizer shares with health authorities in
communities most vulnerable to trachoma. “With support from Pfizer,
ITI and the rest of our trachoma partners around the world, we have
been able to greatly extend our elimination efforts and reach
millions of people in Uganda with sight-saving interventions,
including Zithromax,” said Dr. Edridah Muheki Tukahebwa, National
Coordinator of the NTD Control Program for the Uganda Ministry of
Health. “This program is doing more than just ridding communities
of a cause of debilitating blindness – it’s removing a key social
and economic impediment, and helping us progress toward a future
where all Ugandans are healthy enough to go to school, find work
and live a more productive, rewarding life.”
Pfizer Inc.: Working together for a healthier
world®
At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to bring
therapies to people that extend and significantly improve their
lives. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value
in the discovery, development and manufacture of health care
products. Our global portfolio includes medicines and vaccines as
well as many of the world's best-known consumer health care
products. Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and
emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and
cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time.
Consistent with our responsibility as one of the world's premier
innovative biopharmaceutical companies, we collaborate with health
care providers, governments and local communities to support and
expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world.
For more than 150 years, we have worked to make a difference for
all who rely on us. We routinely post information that may be
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About the International Trachoma Initiative (ITI)
The International Trachoma Initiative (ITI) was co-founded in
1998 by Pfizer Inc. and the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation in
response to the WHO call to achieve Global Elimination of Trachoma
by the year 2020 (GET 2020). The ITI is currently administered by
the Task Force for Global Health, an independent nonprofit. To
achieve that goal, ITI collaborates with governmental and NGO
agencies at the local, national and international levels to
implement the WHO-recommended SAFE strategy for trachoma control.
For more information, please visit www.trachoma.org.
About ZITHROMAX IN THE UNITED STATES
INDICATIONS
ZITHROMAX is a macrolide antibacterial drug indicated for mild
to moderate infections caused by designated, susceptible
bacteria:
- Acute bacterial exacerbations of
chronic bronchitis in adults
- Acute bacterial sinusitis in
adults
- Uncomplicated skin and skin structure
infections in adults
- Urethritis and cervicitis in
adults
- Genital ulcer disease in men
- Acute otitis media in pediatric
patients
- Community-acquired pneumonia in adults
and pediatric patients
- Pharyngitis/tonsillitis in adults and
pediatric patients
ZITHROMAX is not approved in the United States and EU to
treat trachoma.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
- ZITHROMAX is contraindicated in
patients with known hypersensitivity to azithromycin, erythromycin,
any macrolide or ketolide drug and in patients with a history of
cholestatic jaundice/hepatic dysfunction associated with prior use
of azithromycin.
- Serious (including fatal) allergic and
skin reactions including Stevens-Johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal
necrolysis, and Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic
Symptoms (DRESS) have been reported in patients on azithromycin
therapy. If an allergic reaction occurs, the drug should be
discontinued and appropriate therapy should be instituted.
- Hepatotoxicity: Severe, and sometimes
fatal, hepatotoxicity has been reported, Discontinue ZITHROMAX
immediately if signs and symptoms of hepatitis occur.
- Prolongation of QT interval and cases
of torsades de pointes have been reported. This risk which can be
fatal should be considered in patients with certain cardiovascular
disorders including known QT prolongation or history torsades de
pointes, those with proarrhythmic conditions, and with other drugs
that prolong the QT interval.
- Clostridium difficile-associated
diarrhea: Evaluate patients if diarrhea occurs.
- ZITHROMAX may exacerbate muscle
weakness in persons with myasthenia gravis.
- The most common adverse reactions are
diarrhea (5 to 14%), nausea (3 to 18%), abdominal pain (3 to 7%),
or vomiting (2 to 7%).
Click here for full Prescribing
Information.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180612005565/en/
Media:Pfizer Inc.Sally Beatty,
212-733-6566Sally.Beatty@pfizer.com
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