U.S. Government Introduces New Drug to Help Save Lives of Tuberculosis Patients

USAID is collaborating with Janssen, Tajikistan’s Republican Center for TB Control, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Population, and other partners to introduce in Tajikistan the new TB drug, bedaquiline, which offers hope to patients with limited treatment options.
January 31, 2017 – USAID Tajikistan

U.S. Embassy in the Philippines Inaugurates Health Facilities in Samar

The U.S. Embassy in the Philippines' USAID's Office of Health Deputy Chief Bryn Sakagawa led the inauguration of the newly constructed birthing and Tuberculosis Directly Observed Treatment Short-Course facilities in Samar.
November 23, 2016 – Philippine Information Agency

Why Is Multidrug-Resistant TB A Health Security Threat?

Tuberculosis is a public health crisis. How can we not respond with greater urgency? USAID's Dr. Ariel Pablos-Mendéz, WHO's Dr. Mario Raviglione, and UN Special Envoy on Tuberculosis Dr. Eric Goosby discuss.
October 13, 2016 – Huffington Post

USAID Supports Uzbekistan and U.S. Doctors' Long-Term Knowledge Sharing for Tuberculosis Control

Six TB experts from Uzbekistan honed their skills in TB prevention, detection, and treatment during a week-long, USAID-supported training seminar at Rutgers University's Global Tuberculosis Institute in Newark, New Jersey.
October 7, 2016 – TB Europe Coalition

Ending the Tuberculosis Epidemic: U.S. Agency for International Development FY 2015 Report on Foreign Assistance for Tuberculosis [PDF, 2.9MB]

This annual report illustrates USAID's contribution during Fiscal Year 2015 to international tuberculosis (TB) programming. USAID, the lead U.S. Government agency for international TB programming, supported high-quality screening, diagnosis and treatment services for millions of people affected by TB and multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB).
October 2016 – USAID

Eliminating TB: A Collaborative Effort

In September, TB experts and healthcare professionals gathered in Almaty, Kazakhstan, for the International Conference of Integrated TB Control. USAID assisted in organizing the forum in partnership with Project HOPE, the Republic of Kazakhstan Government, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,Tuberculosis and Malaria.
September 29, 2016 – Project Hope

U.S. Government Recognizes Journalists in Tajikistan for Coverage of Tuberculosis

USAID, in cooperation with local partners, provided training on TB reporting to 45 journalists in Tajikistan. On September 23, 2016, USAID and the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population recognized some of these journalists for best media stories covering TB.
September 23, 2016 – USAID

National Action Plan for Combating Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis: Six Month Progress Report and Forward Direction [PDF, 1.7MB]

This interagency progress report summarizes activities undertaken during the first six months in support of the National Action Plan for Combating Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis.
September 2016 – Interagency Report

Kyrgyz Republic Gets New Tools to Fight TB

In the Kyrgyz Republic's most populous and TB-affected region, USAID is partnering with the Ministry of Health to implement a patient-centered outpatient approach to TB care. This innovative approach allows patients to receive TB treatment in their communities without interrupting their lives.
September/October 2016 – Frontlines

Twenty Years of Global Surveillance of Antituberculosis-Drug Resistance

Dr. Ariel Pablos-Mendéz, USAID Assistant Administrator for Global Health, recently co-authored a piece that looks back at the past two decades of drug resistant tuberculosis surveillance and also gazes forward to address current and future surveillance challenges.
September 15, 2016 – The New England Jornal of Medicine

USAID Improves Childhood and Adolescent TB Diagnosis and Treatment

USAID partners with the Kyrgyz Republic to overcome the challenges of diagnosing and managing childhood and adolescent tuberculosis.
August 11, 2016 – U.S. Embassy Kyrgyz Republic

Partnering with Ethiopia to End Tuberculosis

USAID and partners recently celebrated the transition from the HEAL-TB activity to Challenge TB. HEAL­-TB significantly strengthened the laboratory network for TB diagnosis and placed more than 250,000 people on treatment. The new activity, Challenge TB, will build upon HEAL-­TB, and expand in scope to support the Ministry of Health in nearly all regions of Ethiopia.
July 19, 2016 – Voice of America

USAID Reaffirms Partnership with Ethiopian Government to End TB

The U.S. Government, through USAID, in partnership with Ethiopia's Ministry of Health and implementing partners, celebrated the transition from the HEAL-TB activity to Challenge TB. The new activity, Challenge TB, is expected to substantially contribute to the Government of Ethiopia's goal of ending TB throughout the country.
June 28, 2016 – U.S. Embassy Ethiopia

Treatment for Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Now Available in Swaziland through a Donation from the United States Government and Janssen Therapeutics

Anti-TB drug offers new hope for TB patients with limited treatment options.
June 20, 2016 – U.S. Embassy Swaziland

USAID to Provide Technical Assistance to Detect and Treat Multidrug-Resistant TB

USAID will partner with Janssen Therapeutics to bring the first FDA-approved TB drug in over 40 years to Papua New Guinea.
June 14, 2016 – U.S. Embassy Papua New Guinea

The Hills and Valleys of Tuberculosis in the Philippines

In the Philippines, USAID is bridging the gap between rural villages and TB care. Working with partners, USAID has established remote health stations that allow people to get tested for TB near their homes, bringing laboratory services directly to remote villages to ease diagnosis and treatment.
May/June 2016 – USAID Frontlines

Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi Takes Aim at TB in South Africa

In a May 10th debate in the South African Parliament, opposition member Dr. Wilmot Godfrey James of the Democratic Alliance praised the health minister of South Africa, Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi, for his nationwide tuberculosis (TB) efforts.
May 27, 2016 – USAID

A Turning Point in the Battle Against Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis

Current treatment regimens for MDR-TB are lengthy, costly, and physically taxing. But now, two new WHO recommendations offer innovative approaches to fighting drug-resistant TB. Dr. Ariel Pablos-Méndez addresses these two breakthroughs and other developments.
May 12, 2016 – Huffington Post

GeneXpert: Transforming the Diagnosis of Pediatric TB in India

USAID is pioneering the effort to diagnose TB and drug-resistant TB among children in India, as TB is one of the top 10 causes of childhood mortality. The USAID-funded Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) project works in collaboration with India's national TB program to improve diagnosis and treatment success rates for childhood TB.
April 30, 2016 – USAID

Bikers Go Full Throttle to Speed up TB cure in Zimbabwe

Riders for Health, a USAID-funded program, is making inroads to expanding TB care to people in difficult-to-reach areas in Zimbabwe. Bikers transport TB drugs and sputum samples from rural villages to the nearest health facility, drastically reducing the time people spend either waiting for a diagnosis or in line at a faraway clinic for medication.
April 4, 2016 – BHEKISISA

The Goal of Ending TB Is Within our Reach

Dr. Ariel Pablos-Méndez discusses the need to build upon current progress in fighting TB and to continue innovation, investment and collaboration to ultimately end TB.
March 24, 2016 – Huffington Post

He Looks at Tuberculosis Death Toll and Wonders Why You're Not Worried

Aaron Motsoaledi is tired of delivering the same spiel over and over again. No matter how many times the charismatic health minister of South Africa speaks out, people don't seem to grasp the threat presented by tuberculosis, now the No. 1 infectious killer in the world.
March 24, 2016 – Huffington Post

Chewa the Lab Rat Has a Great Job, Good Retirement Benefits

An untreated tuberculosis patient can infect up to a dozen people a year. The disease is largely curable, but first it must be diagnosed. That's where the rats come in.
March 24, 2016 – NPR Goats and Soda

Ending a Global Epidemic of Tuberculosis in Children

A new analysis released today on World Tuberculosis Day, shows that in African countries, a persistent divide between policy and practice threatens to impede progress gained for addressing childhood TB across the region.
March 24, 2016 – USAID

World TB Day Being Observed Globally

The Pakistan Government has prioritized TB as a major public health challenge and every effort is being made for its prevention and control. Recently, at a ceremony organized by the USAID in Washington D.C., Ambassasor Jalil Abbas Jillani received the (TB) Champion Award 2016 on behalf of Pakistan because of the country's commitment and achievements made in managing multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB).
March 24, 2016 – Dunya News

REACH Lilly MDR-TB Partnership Media Awards presented

The biggest challenge facing India is drug resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB), said Anshu Prakash, the Joint Secretary, Health Ministry, ahead of the World Tuberculosis Day on March 24. Mr. Prakash was speaking at the USAID-supported REACH Lilly MDR-TB Partnership Media Awards 2016, which were presented in New Delhi on Tuesday, to recognise outstanding and responsible reporting on TB.
March 23, 2016 – The Hindu

AGPMPN Rolls Out the Big Guns against Tuberculosis

As part of the commemoration of the 2016 World Tuberculosis day, March 24, the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Program NTLCP, is collaborating with the Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria, AGPMPN, to inform and educate the public about the disease.
March 23, 2016 – Vanguard

National Action Plan for Combating MDR-TB Launch Event

The Obama administration announced on December 22, 2015 a comprehensive set of federal activities and a call to action to the global community to combat the rise of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).
December 22, 2015 – USAID

USAID Assistant Administrator Dr. Ariel Pablos-Mendéz Testifies at a Hearing on Drug-Resistant TB

The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations held a hearing this week on the threat of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB), Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: The Next Global Health Crisis?
December 9, 2015 – USAID

USAID Welcomes the Launch of the Global Plan to End TB

Statement by Dr. Ariel Pablos-Mendéz, USAID Assistant Administrator for Global Health, on the launch of the Global Plan to End TB.
November 20, 2015 – USAID

USAID Convenes High-level Policy and Scientific Symposium on Implications of the New WHO 2015 Global TB Report

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) hosted a high-level Tuberculosis (TB) Policy and Scientific Symposium following the release of the World Health Organization (WHO) 2015 Global TB Report on October 28th. The symposium convened a panel of leaders and public health experts to review key findings from the TB report, deliberate ways to step up the TB response, and ultimately end the epidemic altogether.
November 2, 2015 – USAID

USAID to Reach Patients in Over 100 Countries with Life-Saving Medicine for Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis

Georgia becomes first recipient of free treatment through an innovative drug-donation partnership between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Janssen Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company of Johnson & Johnson.
October 14, 2015 – USAID

Innovating to Overcome Grand Challenges in TB in India

USAID, IKP Knowledge Park, and the Gates Foundation are working together to identify, fund, and nurture technology-driven solutions that will assist in achieving a world free of TB. The first Grand Challenges initiative focuses on solutions based in India, which has the largest number of TB cases in the world.
September 24, 2015 – USAID

Webinar: A Global Update on the Use of Bedaquiline for Programmatic Management of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis

Dr. Jennifer Furin in collaboration with the TB team at USAID and SIAPS presented up-to-date information on the use of bedaquiline for treatment of TB patients under donation program conditions.
September 10, 2015 – USAID

U.S. Ambassador Launches Dialogue for TB-free India

In a historic effort to eradicate one of the most deadly diseases in India, U.S. Ambassador to India Richard Verma, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, and Sir Ratan Tata joined corporate leaders on September 9 to launch a dialogue for a TB-Free India. Over the last 18 years, continued investment from the U.S. Government in India has resulted in close to $100 million to prevent and control TB, and has helped to treat over 15 million people.
September 10, 2015 – Times of India

GeneXpert® Omni Enables Increased Access to Accurate, Fast and Potentially Life-saving Diagnosis for TB Patients

GeneXpert® Omni will soon provide increased access to TB testing in some of the most remote areas of the world. The DNA-reading diagnostic device, manufactured by California-based Cepheid Inc., is battery powered and weighs only 2 pounds, making it highly portable.
August 12, 2015 – USAID

Stakeholder Forum on the U.S. Government National Action Plan to Combat Multidrug-Resistant TB

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) along with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other U.S. Government agencies recently co-hosted a Stakeholder Forum to discuss the development of the U.S. Government National Action Plan for Combating Multidrug-Resistant TB (MDR-TB).
July 14, 2015 – USAID

Engaging Private Sector Providers in TB care and Prevention in Asia

A paper co-authored by USAID Senior Tuberculosis Technical Advisor William Wells outlines how to engage private healthcare providers so that TB can be located and treated rapidly, thus preventing further spread.
June 23, 2015 – PLOSMedicine

Use of Xpert MTB/RIF in Decentralized Public Health Settings and Its Effect on Pulmonary TB and DR-TB Case Finding in India

New U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded study shows an almost 40 percent increase in tuberculosis (TB) and drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) case notification in public health facilities in India, using a high-sensitivity diagnostic test known as Xpert MTB/RIF.
May 21, 2015 – USAID

TB Alliance Launches “Nix-TB” Clinical Trial to Test New XDR-TB Treatment

USAID is among the donors supporting this first of its kind clinical trial to test treatment for extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). The trial has the potential to shorten, simplify, and improve XDR-TB treatment.
May 14, 2015 – TB Alliance

India's Ministry for Health & Family Welfare Calls for a TB Free India Following the End of the Largest Ever TB Program Review

India's Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has launched a bold Call to Action for a TB-free India. As a long-time partner to the government of India, USAID will continue to support India’s drive to eliminate the burden of TB through innovative approaches to ensure success in TB diagnosis and treatment and quality of TB care.
April 24, 2015 – Stop TB Partnership

The Giant Rats that Save Lives

New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof discusses HeroRats and their ability to screen for ‪#‎TB faster and more accurately than humans and microscopes.
April 18, 2015 – New York Times

Webinar: Introduction to USAID's Bedaquiline Donation Program in Partnership with Johnson & Johnson/Janssen Therapeutics

USAID's TB team shared information with participants regarding the USAID/Janssen bedaquiline donation program including: proposed activities, how the donation will work, which countries are eligible, how these countries can access the medication, and technical assistance to be provided.
April 3, 2015 – USAID

USAID-Janssen Therapeutics Bedaquiline Donation Program Begins April 1

Starting today countries will be able to request bedaquiline, a new drug to treat multidrug-resistant TB, under a unique donation program following an agreement signed between USAID and the Johnson & Johnson affiliate, Janssen Therapeutics.
April 1, 2015 – Global TB Community TB Advisory Board

USAID Celebrates World TB Day 2015

USAID's TB team hosted a World TB Day event, "Reach, Cure, Prevent," with high-level guests and TB survivors on March 24, 2015, at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Watch a recording of the event here.
March 24, 2015 – The Center for Global Health and Diplomacy

USAID and Johnson & Johnson to Tackle Antibiotic-Resistant Tuberculosis

USAID signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Janssen Therapeutics, one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, that will donate $30 million worth of the drug SIRTURO® (bedaquiline) to fight multidrug-resistant TB over a 4 year period through USAID's programs in nearly 100 low- and middle-income eligible countries.
December 11, 2014 – USAID