This case study shows how LIGHT moved beyond producing evidence to actively engaging the key stakeholders and platforms that shape TB policy, accountability and financing. Across Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda, the UK, and wider regional and global spaces, LIGHT treated engagement not as a one-off dissemination exercise, but as a deliberate research uptake strategy. Through sustained dialogue with parliamentarians, national TB programmes, TB networks, regional and global bodies, LIGHT helped bring evidence on TB and gender into the spaces where political attention, budget priorities and oversight mechanisms are shaped.
The case study also highlights the impact this approach had. LIGHT helped strengthen understanding among policymakers and stakeholders that TB is not only a health issue, but also a social, economic and political one, shaped by gender norms, structural inequities and barriers to care, particularly for men. Its engagement contributed to stronger parliamentary and stakeholder attention to gender disparities in TB, informed policy discussions and advocacy on domestic resource mobilisation, and helped position gender-responsive TB prevention and care as a legitimate policy and financing priority. Across regional and global platforms, LIGHT also connected national evidence to broader accountability mechanisms, including NEAPACOH, SADC and global TB policy spaces, helping reinforce commitments around gender-responsive approaches, sex-disaggregated data, and more tailored models of care. Overall, the case study demonstrates that sustained stakeholder engagement is essential for moving research into action: not only raising awareness, but also strengthening accountability, influencing commitments, and creating momentum for more equitable and better-resourced TB responses.