Tuberculosis (TB) is the second leading infectious killer after COVID-19. Globally, in 2022, 1.1 million people died from TB and an estimated 10.6 million people fell with TB, with the WHO African region accounting for 2.5 million cases. Of those who fell ill with TB, 3.1 million people were not detected or officially notified and did not receive the care they needed (World Health Organization’s 2023 Global Tuberculosis Report(link is external)).
Of those who fell ill with TB, 4.2 million people were not detected or officially notified and did not receive the care they needed,denying them their right to health and wellbeing. The intersection between gender, poverty and other social determinants of health contributes to an increased vulnerability and exposure to TB.
Yet, TB is a preventable and curable disease. In 2022, 3.8 million lives were saved through TB diagnosis and treatment. Ending TB by 2030 is one of the health-related targets of the 2015 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. To reach this goal, progress must be expedited through accelerating the introduction and scale-up of technological breakthroughs for TB, inlcuding rapid diagnosis, new treatments, and vaccine development, as well as adopting gender-equitable support packages.
Gender and TB
Gender plays a significant role in determining health outcomes, including equitable access to quality TB prevention and care. People of different genders face different challenges and thus require tailored solutions to access the care they need. Globally, in 2022, more than half of people with TB were in adult men (55% of all TB cases compared to 33% among adult women and 12% among children); and two out of every three cases of TB which go undiagnosed or not notified, are in men.
The global TB community recognises the need to transform the approaches to TB response in order to overcome barriers to TB prevention and care and toultimately reduce the overall TB burden and transmission, for all. Ending TB therefore, requiresinnovative and comprehensive rights-based, people-centred, approaches that are responsive to gender needs and account for the various factorsimpacting the progress of the TB response.
New evidence is needed to inform policies that are gender-responsive and effectively actioned to improve male access to quality TB care; to reduce the number of people with TB-related ill health and deaths; to reduce transmission to the wider community, including to women and girls; and to reduce devastating associated costs for those with TB and their families.
The LIGHT research programme aims to do exactly this while exploring and accounting for the complex intersecting axes of inequality including that of gender, poverty, education, urbanisation and age.
