As we commemorate World TB Day, TB remains a leading cause of severe illness and death among people living with HIV. By ending TB we will save more lives and move closer to ending both epidemics for good.
TB affects millions of people annually, yet still it continues to be a critical health challenge, especially in vulnerable communities that lack access to timely prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care. The elimination of TB cannot be achieved by the public health system and affected communities alone, it requires firm political commitment at the highest level as well as strong multisectoral collaboration that goes beyond health.
TB services still fail to reach everyone in need and not all people with TB benefit from accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment services. Interruption in treatment may lead to multidrug-resistant TB. The rise of multidrug-resistant TB cases is a growing concern; if it goes unchecked it can set back the steady progress that has been made during the past 20 years. This calls for increased funding to scale up community-led TB response, increasing access to new shorter treatment regimens, TB preventative therapy, development of new TB vaccines and prioritizing children affected with TB.
The elimination of TB is central to what we do as Humana People to People together with our members in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. We are committed to investing and accelerating efforts to end TB through conducting community-led TB response programs targeting communities most at risk of TB. Active TB case-finding approach is crucial in letting communities lead to find solutions to their health challenges together, which is key towards achieving Universal Health Coverage.
We support public health systems through our members, bringing in science and technology to accelerate TB diagnosis, treatment and care. We align our community TB response efforts with national TB programs to extend the reach of TB health services to as many people as possible. Over the past 15 years, Humana People to People network has reached over 15 million people with TB services spanning across Africa and Asia.
In 2023, HPP-Congo reached an excess of 1.8 million people with TB prevention messages. The focus is on stopping the spread of TB by finding presumptive cases, collecting sputum to the lab for testing, bringing results to the people and linking TB-positive people with health facilities for treatment and care. TC-TB Katanga conducts active case finding, and addresses stigma and discrimination through raising awareness in Congo, D.R. People screened are referred for TB diagnosis at the local health facilities and those that test TB positive are initiated on treatment. The project reached 1.2 million people, referred 100,515 presumptive cases, and 14,716 people were diagnosed with TB in 2023.
DAPP Malawi through USAID funded TB LON II Project is reducing the burden of TB by actively finding TB presumptive cases both at the health facility and community level, encouraging treatment initiation and adherence for both drug-susceptible and resistant TB patients, providing psychosocial counselling and food supplements as part of ensuring successful treatment completion. In 2023, the project reached out to more than 700,000 people with key TB messages, identified 4,914 presumptive cases and diagnosed 2,087 people with TB.
Local TB Response Project in Mozambique increases the number of people diagnosed with drug-resistant and multidrug-resistant TB, links them to health facilities for treatment and organizes community support. The project is renovating and equipping health facilities with diagnosis machines and laboratory supplies to ensure effective diagnosis of TB. Integration of digital technology in community-led monitoring is identifying and resolving TB testing and treatment barriers. In 2023, ADPP Mozambique carried out TB activities in 51 districts spread across five provinces. Over 2.1 million people were screened for TB from the total more than 32,000 people were diagnosed, referred for treatment and supported to adhere to treatment until cured.
Humana People to People India is contributing towards the achievement of Government of India and WHO End TB Strategy targets of reducing TB incidence by 90% and deaths by 95% through its TB projects. The projects are increasing treatment coverage of all forms of TB and supporting community systems for resilient and sustainable TB services. In 2023, more than 450,000 people were reached, resulting in the identification of 1,526 people being initiated TB treatment.
HPP Laos’s Total Control of TB Bolikhamxay and Oudomxay projects raise awareness about TB and identify people infected with TB through active TB case finding. Treatment supporters are trained to support those infected with TB to adhere to treatment. In 2023, the projects reached out with TB-related messages to 35,918 people, this resulted in identifying 2,247 TB presumptive cases of which 297 tested positive for TB.
Humana People to People recognizes the efforts contributing to a steady decline in the number of TB cases and deaths every year, a manifestation of the TB global response efforts to end TB as a public health threat by 2035. Protecting the gains made is imperative in this fight, to instil hope for better health in TB-affected communities. Ending TB is possible – it only takes the global TB community to join hands, adhere to commitments, invest in TB programs and engage communities to create sustainable local TB response structures that bring about the positive change communities seek to live TB free.