Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is a curable and treatable disease – yet it is a leading infectious disease killer worldwide, accounting for 1.3 million deaths in 2022 alone, including 167,000 deaths among HIV positive people.

In 2022, an estimated 10.6 million people fell ill with this preventable and curable disease worldwide.

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Tuberculosis

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A world free of TB

The Union Vision and Strategy for TB: 2022 – 2027

Since its inception in 1920, The Union has had a focus on tuberculosis (TB) and innovating TB care.

We have now set out our 2022-2027 vision, objectives and strategy for ending TB. This can only be achieved collectively, with our members, partners and TB community – everyone has a role to play.

Together, we can bring an end to TB.

READ THE VISION AND STRATEGY

Our work in TB

The Union works towards the global elimination of TB. We support high-quality, accessible prevention and care for people with and at risk of TB, to expand the evidence base for TB care and prevention and implement new knowledge into policy and practice.

Project Axshya

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In collaboration with local partners and over 15,000 community volunteers, The Union provided innovative tuberculosis (TB) interventions designed to serve traditionally hard-to-reach and at-risk populations in India.

Specific TB priority areas

Read more about how The Union is working to fight key areas of TB:

Child & Adolescent Tuberculosis

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The Union works to develop, test, implement and scale up routine screening of child contacts of people with TB. We run observational studies and advocate to ensure children and adolescents are included in clinical trials that target diagnostics, vaccines and treatment of TB disease and infection.

MEMBERS IN ACTION

A leading role in the prevention and control of zoonotic TB

The Zoonotic TB Sub-section was instrumental in the creation of the first-ever Roadmap for Zoonotic TB, a policy document that addressed the major health and economic impacts of the disease, created in collaboration with the World Health Organization.

Members work together to influence global policy and practice, ensuring their work has a greater global impact. 

Find out more

Understand the issues with our factsheets

Tuberculosis Union news

Global luminaries open the Union World Conference on Lung Health, marking The Union’s centennial

Published on 20 October 2020

As The Union celebrates its one hundredth birthday, we embark upon the first-ever virtual Union World Conference, in an Opening Ceremony unprecedented for its line-up of international luminaries. Including President Bill Clinton and WHO Director-General Dr Tedros.

TB Publications

TB Prevention

Until recently, the focus has been on finding and treating people with TB. But now bold targets for TB prevention have been outlined in the recent UN High-Level Meeting on TB.  The Union develops, tests, implements and scales up models of care to increase the uptake and completion of TB preventive treatments in key high risk groups including children under 5 and people living with HIV.

'Prevent Tuberculosis: Management of TB Infection' is a free course which improves knowledge of all aspects of the management of TB infection including the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis with the specific aim of increasing country-level implementation of TB prevention among i) household contact of people affected by TB, especially those under five years of age, ii) persons with risk factors to develop TB, and iii) people living with HIV in care.

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