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.
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 Plus
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
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.
TB-HIV, TB-Diabetes and other co-morbidities
The Union develops, tests, implements and scales up models of care for co-morbid conditions that increase the risk of developing TB, that are prevalent in high TB burden settings, or that adversely affect TB treatment outcomes.
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.
Understand the issues with our factsheets
Tuberculosis Union news
Nicotine’s new frontier: Why we can’t let big tobacco set the agenda
When the modern e-cigarette first appeared in Shenzhen two decades ago, its inventor, Hon Lik, imagined a cleaner route out of…
Luther Terry Award 2025 winners reflect on progress and challenges in tobacco control
As we mark World No Tobacco Day, recipients of the 2025 Luther L. Terry Awards reflect on the progress made since the World Conference…
Fiscal Policy could be the key to progress in tobacco control – but policy inertia threatens this
Once again, we find ourselves at a turning point in tobacco control. The continued resurgence of the tobacco industry alongside a…
New Head of Programme joins the Union India Office
The Union has announced Dr Archana Beri as the new Head of Programme of the Union India Office.
Archana is a physician-scientist, clinical microbiologist and public health leader with over two decades of experience strengthening diagnostic and laboratory systems globally.
Inhaled Medicines Intervention Statement 79th World Health Assembly
The Union hosted an official side event at the 79th World Health Assembly, titled 'From Global Commitments to Integrated Lung Health Action: Advancing early diagnosis of lung cancer and access to inhaled medicines for COPD and asthma'. The session was co-hosted with the Ministry of Health Malaysia, Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) and Union for International Cancer Control.
During the side event, Cassandra Kelly-Cirino delivered the following intervention on behalf of The Union and FIRS.
The Union joins global coalition tackling oxygen inequity
The Union has become an official member of the Global Oxygen Alliance (GO2AL), a collaborative effort to ensure safe, affordable and equitable access to medical oxygen for those in need.
International Nurses' Day: Our Nurses. Our Future. Empowered Nurses Save Lives
On this International Nurses Day, we celebrate the extraordinary nurses who stand at the frontline of care.
Empowered nurses are…
Important step forward in UK tobacco control
As global health leaders, hosts of the World Conference on Tobacco Control 2025 and authors of the Dublin Declaration, The Union…
Compliance with intermittent preventive malaria treatment in pregnancy at a tertiary hospital in Sierra Leone
In this article, part of the TB, HIV and Malaria Series to be published in the Q2 issue of PHA, the authors examine uptake of intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy in Sierra Leone, showing low compliance with the recommended minimum of three doses, largely associated with insufficient antenatal care contacts.
Parenteral artesunate compliance and hospital outcomes in children under-five with suspected severe malaria in Sierra Leone
In this article, part of the TB, HIV and Malaria Series to be published in the Q2 issue of PHA, the authors assess adherence to national severe malaria management guidelines in children under five in Sierra Leone and its association with hospital outcomes, highlighting suboptimal artesunate dosing and related adverse outcomes.
Mapping Malaria Hotspots through Spatial and Spatio-Temporal Analysis in Sierra Leone, 2021-2024
In this article part of the TB, HIV and Malaria Series to be published in the Q2 issue of PHA, the authors analyse the spatial and temporal distribution of malaria in Sierra Leone, identifying persistent hotspots and no significant association with rainfall. The findings highlight the need for targeted, subnational interventions to address persistent hotspots.
“Game-changing” TB escape room shows early impact on health-seeking behaviour
The Union’s Advocacy, Communications and Social Mobilization (ACSM) team worked closely with a small team of game designers, coders and artists to develop a first-of-kind TB-themed virtual escape room to promote health-seeking behaviour.
Community ownership driving TB free villages
Even if a country’s TB programme perfects service delivery, TB won’t end until grassroots communities are empowered to…
Leveraging the exemplary efforts of community health officers
In Himachal Pradesh, the ACSM team is supporting the State TB programme to empower community health officers to take…
Students take the lead on TB education in their schools, homes and communities
In the densely populated State of Madhya Pradesh, where there is a high burden of TB, the ACSM team is working…
Annual Union Values award winner: Alpha Panda
Since 1920, The Union has been at the centre of the fight against tuberculosis (TB) and lung disease. Along the way The Union became…
Annual Union Values award winner: Thazin
Since 1920, The Union has been at the centre of the fight against tuberculosis (TB) and lung disease. Along the way The Union…
Annual Union Values award winner: Madhava Sai Sivapuram
Since 1920, The Union has been at the centre of the fight against tuberculosis (TB) and lung disease. Along the way The Union…
From training to impact: Improving childhood TB notification in Lesotho
Mpho Matlotliso Maketekete Khesa is the Programme Childhood TB and Training Coordinator at the Ministry of Health in Lesotho, where she…
Accelerating an end to TB in urban India
In close collaboration with national and local partners, The Union is leading two initiatives designed to accelerate the elimination of…
TB Publications
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.