A new drug could be the beginning of the end for sleeping sickness

"For decades, available treatments were difficult to use. Therapies required staff, equipment and reliable infrastructure. These challenges were especially severe in remote, rural areas, where most cases occur and health services are limited."

"Its single-dose, well-tolerated regimen can dramatically simplify patient care, improve access to treatment and accelerate progress toward the elimination of sleeping sickness. It is a transformative tool for both patients and public health programs."

"A single bite from a tsetse fly carrying the parasite is all it takes to infect someone. Without treatment one form of the illness can progress from mild symptoms to death in a matter of weeks."

Sleeping sickness, transmitted by tsetse fly bites, can progress from mild symptoms to death within weeks without treatment. Previous treatments involved intravenous drugs causing severe pain and fatal outcomes in approximately 5% of cases, while current oral treatments require 10-day courses with significant side effects including nausea and heart-rhythm disturbances. Acoziborole represents a breakthrough as a single-dose oral treatment consisting of three pills taken together, with clinical trials showing only mild to moderate headaches as side effects. This advancement addresses critical challenges in disease management, particularly in remote rural areas with limited healthcare infrastructure where most cases occur, potentially enabling the WHO to achieve its 2030 elimination goal.

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