Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in children: Are the same therapy options available worldwide?

The spread of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) encouraged the development of new medicines and the reappraisal of old drugs rarely used in recent years. Providing access for children with drug-resistant TB to appropriate treatments is a cornerstone of strategies to reduce the burden of TB worldwide. Aim of this perspective was to describe the availability of child-friendly medicines to treat drug-resistant TB at the global level. We showed that the development of child-friendly formulations of second-line drugs should be encouraged to promote adherence to recommended treatment regimens and consequently to increase the success rate and to prevent the development of additional mycobacterial resistances. This is even more crucial, considering the long duration of antitubercular therapies. Importantly, companies and policy makers are called to more efforts in facilitating their prompt availability in every contest because drug-resistant pediatric TB is a worldwide medical problem.