Building Commitment and Capacity to End TB
Reflecting on the progress made 2 years after the launch of USAID’s Global Accelerator to End TB
Despite being curable, tuberculosis (TB) is the world’s deadliest infectious disease, killing an estimated 1.5 million people each year and disproportionately affecting the world’s poorest populations.
USAID leads the U.S. Government’s global TB efforts, working with governments and partners around the world to reach every person with TB, cure those in need of treatment, and prevent the spread of new infections.
To help accomplish this, two years ago, USAID introduced a new approach in fighting TB at the United Nations General Assembly. At this meeting, heads of state from countries most impacted by TB and other partners committed to putting 40 million people on TB treatment. USAID launched the Global Accelerator to End TB as the global business model to help countries reach the target and ultimately end TB.
Designed to promote systemic change, the Accelerator builds countries’ on-the-ground capacity to respond to TB by signing partnership statements with and embedding technical experts in Ministries of Health, and partnering directly with local organizations. These approaches enable countries to respond using locally generated systems and solutions.
After Uganda’s TB prevalence survey showed more cases than previously thought, USAID signed a partnership statement with the Ministry of Health to strengthen efforts to find undiagnosed TB cases. Working hand in hand with the country’s National TB and Leprosy Program, this joint effort contributed to an overall increase in TB case detection from 60 percent in 2018 to 80 percent in 2019.
In Cambodia, USAID has made a direct award to local organization KHANA to implement local solutions to improve outcomes in finding and treating TB cases. As a new USAID partner, this organization works with USAID-funded technical advisors in Cambodia’s National TB Program to find missing cases in districts that have high burdens of the disease. This community-based approach has contributed to finding 14.5 percent of the country’s TB cases.
These local partners have also proven to be particularly important during COVID-19, when countries and many of their health facilities were shut down. When social distancing and movement restrictions impacted access to healthcare in KHANA’s districts, they were able to maintain TB services through mobile outreach screenings. This has been vital in continuing to find active TB cases, refer patients for treatment, and curb the spread of the disease.
And in Indonesia, USAID partners with one of the country’s largest faith-based organizations, Muhammadiyah. With a vast network of more than 400 health facilities, Muhammadiyah has been able to establish special areas within their facilities to continue to safely care for drug-resistant TB patients, as well as add health care services for COVID-19 patients. This partnership has also enabled the facilities to connect to the private sector to receive donations of key supplies, such as hand sanitizer.
With modeling studies predicting the impact of COVID-19 will reverse five to eight years of progress in the fight against TB, the Accelerator’s approach of building countries’ capacity to respond to TB is more important than ever. USAID will continue to push forward in the global fight to end TB.
About the Author
Andrea Gavin is the Senior Communications Advisor for Tuberculosis in the Infectious Disease Office in USAID’s Global Health Bureau.
