Stop TB Partnership Retains U.S. Funds but Must Revise Scope, Cut Staff

12 June 2025

Cases such as this illustrate the far-reaching impacts of the Trump administration’s reshuffling of foreign aid, even when funding persists.

The Stop TB Partnership, which is hosted by the United Nations Office for Project Services, or UNOPS, has ultimately been able to retain all of its U.S. funding — after a halt of programs, program terminations, and then program termination reversals by the Trump administration.

But even so, the scope of the work they do with that U.S. funding must be revised, meaning the organization must lay off some of its staff and part ways with some implementing partners.

The Trump administration’s requested budget for fiscal year 2026 slashed many global health programs completely — such as family planning and neglected tropical diseases — because the administration thinks they “do not make Americans safer.”

But it’s decided fighting against tuberculosis does keep Americans safer, and the budget request maintains about 44% of former tuberculosis funding levels — $178 million. In fiscal years 2023 through 2025, the U.S. allocated $406 million annually to tuberculosis, according to KFF, a health policy think tank.

TB is “among the most lethal infectious diseases in the world and the United States is experiencing one of its worst outbreaks. This funding will work to protect the exposure to American[s] from infectious cases of TB that originate overseas,” according to a White House 2026 budget document.

A benefactor of that remaining U.S. funding is the Geneva-based Stop TB Partnership. Devex spoke with Dr. Lucica Ditiu, the organization’s executive director, about Stop TB’s “turbulent” experience with U.S. funding in recent months, and what will happen to the partnership moving forward. Last year’s U.S. funding levels to the Stop TB Partnership were around $60 million and will continue at that level for the current year, she said, including for the procurement and supply of medicines and diagnostics and grants to local organizations for lifesaving services.

“We are back in business — to put it this way — with the same amount of funding as we had,” she said.

Ditiu said she believes her organization is one of the very few U.N. entities to retain the same levels of U.S. funding.

Revised scope

Stop TB’s programming, along with all foreign aid programs, was halted in January under the Trump administration’s stop-work order. Then, it had grants terminated, but then the decision to terminate those programs was reversed by the Trump administration.

Ditiu said they now have a new active agreement signed between UNOPS — as the host -– and the U.S. government for the coming year, and they’ve been told by the U.S. government to go ahead and create the work plan based on the revised scope of work with some activities that won’t move forward and others that will be strengthened.

The way the organization operates is it moves forward with implementing programming, and then asks for reimbursement from the U.S. government. It’s a system based on trust, she explained.

Amid the Trump administration’s dismantling of the foreign aid apparatus, many organizations have struggled to receive U.S. reimbursement for work they’ve already performed — prompting lawsuits.

“We were a bit worried in the beginning — to be very honest — because we were worried what would happen if we did these activities, we have our grantees that did work, and we cannot pay them?” she said. But she said they’ve successfully received U.S. reimbursements since mid-March.

“We managed to draw down the funding as needed,” Ditiu said. But one of the changes is that the U.S. is asking for more details about how the money is being used.

“There is much more granularity expected — but on the other hand, we do that with almost every other donor so we are not doing anything extraordinary for the U.S.,” she said. “I find it logical.”

Ditiu said she’s not in the position to talk about the revised scope of activities they will continue with and the activities that must sunset. But she did say they will strengthen and increase activities related to TB service delivery — ensuring more people get diagnosed and treated.

“Everything that is not directly linked to saving the lives of people with TB or delivering services specifically for them is not really a priority,” she said.

And accompanying this revised scope of work will be staff layoffs, she said, adding that they won’t be as dramatic as those faced by other organizations impacted by U.S. funding cuts which are experiencing large-scale terminations.

It also means a change in some of the implementing partners Stop TB works with — based on their strengths. Additionally, Ditiu said it’s expected that the Trump administration may change the list of priority countries to work with.

“We will have to work with organizations that are very good at providing services like door-to-door finding people with TB, providing treatments, helping diagnosis networks for drug resistance — all this delivery. I think that, unfortunately, some of our grantees aren’t equipped for that. That’s why, for some of them, it very likely is the end of that,” she said.

America’s priorities

The decision to retain funding is likely because their work aligns with the Trump administration’s mission to keep Americans safe, more wealthy, and stronger, Ditiu said.

With tuberculosis, it’s not enough to close borders “because as long as we travel and because it’s airborne, everyone is at risk,” she said. “Working towards ending TB and not having this horrible bug in the air is extremely important for the safety of all of us — including the U.S.”

Last year, 10,347 TB cases were reported in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — an 8% increase over the previous year. An outbreak in Kansas this year is one of the largest recorded in the country’s history.

Their work also supports American companies, she said. California-based company Cepheid produces the main rapid molecular diagnostic test for tuberculosis, GeneXpert. Stop TB conducts its procurement through its global drug facility, or GDF, including large volumes of GeneXpert.

“They are one of the several American companies that have TB products, but probably they represent the most, because it’s such an important tool for TB diagnosis,” Ditiu said.

Last year, the U.S. contributed to GDF around $17 million, and Stop TB procured through GDF $140 million of American products.

“It’s a good investment — to get eight times more than what you put in it,” she said.

A ‘very cold shower’

But there are things to worry about in the broader tuberculosis sector. The interruptions to diagnostic networks and interruptions in treatments in recent months have had a huge impact on those living with TB, Ditiu said.

“I’m worried for the short term, let’s say, for maybe this year,” she said, adding that she’s not sure if a lot of additional money will be made available for TB, but at least then countries will be able to organize themselves around reduced budgets.

And the broader tuberculosis U.S. funding cuts included research for new drugs and diagnostics — this is a significant problem, Ditiu said. For example, there’s not yet a point-of-care diagnosis for TB — testing still needs to be done by an outside lab or clinic, with a person with a medical specialization, like a lab technician or nurse. Additionally, some of the research that was halted was around new treatment regimes for drug-resistant TB.

“Drug-resistant TB is a really, very difficult disease, very problematic. It’s a risk for all of us. The fact that there were interruptions on the trials with some new drug combinations and so on — it’s a very difficult one to recover [from],” she said.

Source: Devex