REACHING ALL PEOPLE BRIEFING
Reaching everyone with TB is essential to ending the disease. TB is preventable and curable, yet millions of people still face barriers to timely diagnosis, effective treatment and prevention services. These gaps allow transmission to continue and expose persistent weaknesses in health systems, financing and service delivery.
People at higher risk of TB are often those least reached by care. Their risk may be shaped by where they live, socialise or work, other health conditions, poverty, stigma or the cost and distance of accessing services.
Informed by the 2023 UN High-Level Meeting commitments, this briefing explains ‘what good looks like’ for closing these gaps. It focuses on quality-assured diagnosis and treatment, TB preventive treatment, social protection and people-centred approaches that reach those most at risk. The primer acts as an Executive Summary.
EXPERT PANEL
MS PARAN SARIMITA WINARNI
Paran Sarimita Winarni is a survivor of both drugs-sensitive and multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) who has turned her 2014 recovery into a lifelong mission of empowerment. Currently serving as the Vice Chair of PETA TB RO Jakarta, she leads a network of treatment supporters across five districts in Jakarta.
Her expertise is recognised globally through her roles in the WHO South-East Asia Region Regional Green Light Committee, WHO Civil Society Task Force, TB Community Advisory Board, and WHO 1+1 Initiative (Youth Movement Against TB Indonesia). Recently she expanded her advocacy into the legal and policy sectors as a member of LBHM (Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Masyarakat), a Community TB Paralegal, and a member of an affordable medicines Coalition (Koalisi Obat Murah), dedicated to protecting people with TB rights and ensuring affordable access to essential medicines.
MS TINA CAMPBELL
Tina Campbell, Registered Nurse, is the Tuberculosis (TB) Advisor with the Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority (NITHA), supporting TB prevention, screening, and care across 33 First Nations communities in northern Saskatchewan. She is a current Steering Committee Member and Past Co-Chair of Stop TB Canada, a national network committed to ending TB in Canada and globally.
An Indigenous woman of Cree ancestry, Tina advocates for culturally safe TB care and works to ensure healthcare providers understand the historical and ongoing impacts of colonialism on Indigenous health.
DR. STEPHEN MACHARIA
Dr Stephen Macharia is a public health consultant and Senior TB Advisor to Kenya’s National TB, Leprosy and Lung Disease Program. He has over 25 years of experience in TB, HIV, and health system strengthening across Kenya, Tanzania, South Sudan, and other resource-limited and emergency settings. He has contributed to national TB policy and strategic planning, operational research, programme reviews, and Global Fund grant development and implementation. His work includes piloting innovative TB interventions such as digital chest X-ray with CAD, molecular diagnostics, and TB preventive therapy, alongside active engagement in technical working groups and international forums.
Dr. Yana Terleieva, Head of the TB Department of the Center for Public Health of MOH of Ukraine, performs the functions of the national manager for TB prevention and care in Ukraine. Since 2005 she has been working in the field of the TB response, the last 15 years at the national level. Her main areas of focus are updating strategies for combating TB in accordance with international recommendations, the use of people-centered approaches, innovations in prevention, diagnosis and treatment, as well as combating stigma and applying a comprehensive approach to overcoming tuberculosis.
DR YANA TERLEIEVA
DR SARITA AGUIRRE
Dr. Sarita Aguirre has served as Director of the National Tuberculosis Control Program (PNCT) of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare since 2012. Prior to this role, she coordinated initiatives targeting indigenous populations and led the Program's monitoring department. She is a pulmonologist, holds a Master's degree in Health Services Management and Administration, and is an active researcher in the field of tuberculosis.
DR JOHN BIMBA
Dr John Bimba is the Director of Zankli Research Centre and a Lecturer at the Department of Community Medicine for Bingham University in Karu, Nigeria. John is a specialist in infectious diseases, especially Tuberculosis and HIV and is partner lead on the LIGHT research programme consortium contributing new evidence in achieving gender-responsive tuberculosis prevention and care. He is a public health physician with over 10 years’ experience in the coordination, planning and implementation of research programmes in clinical and community settings in Nigeria.
DR SUSHIL CHANDRA BARAL
Dr. Sushil Chandra Baral is an experienced health and development expert with over 25 years of experience in research and development. Specializing in health systems, health policy, and planning at both national and international levels, Dr. Baral has played a pivotal role in communicable disease control, specifically Tuberculosis. He serves as a Managing Director at HERD International.
DR WOLE AMEYAN
Team Lead for Key and Vulnerable Populations in the Department of HIV, Tuberculosis, Hepatitis, and Sexually Transmitted Infections at the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
In this role, Wole Ameyan provides technical leadership in policy and strategy development for populations affected by HIV, tuberculosis, hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infections. With a medical degree, a master’s in international public health, and over fifteen years of experience across government, NGOs, and the United Nations, Wole Ameyan specialises in evidence-based interventions and sustainable health systems, and is a strong advocate for the meaningful engagement of key and vulnerable populations in all facets of health programs.
DR CELESTE GRACIA EDWARDS
Dr Celeste Gracia Edwards, a physician and specialist in internal medicine and international public health, is Senior TB/HIV Disease Advisor at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. With 15+ years’ experience, she has worked in programmatic and clinical TB/HIV management across diverse settings, providing implementation, coordination, and technical advisory support.
MR JAMES MALAR
A human rights lawyer working with TB key and vulnerable populations, human rights and gender at the Stop TB Partnership Geneva. Formally worked with civil society in Asia-Pacific.