SMART4TB: Investing in Children: Shortening Pediatric TB Treatment in Zambia

19 January 2026

Meet the team focused on improving pediatric TB care in Zambia

Childhood TB, while impacting nearly a million children across the globe, isn’t as well diagnosed and is likely under or overtreated compared with TB in adulthood. The Shortened Regimen for Drug-Susceptible TB in Children (SMILE-TB) trial, led by the SMART4TB Consortium, and funded by the U.S. government, is focused on addressing this critical population, evaluating a shorter treatment regimen for children with pulmonary and lymph node TB. When children are diagnosed and treated quickly and effectively, it can have an enormous impact on their future and their caregivers. SMILE-TB is currently enrolling participants in Uganda, Indonesia, and Zambia, where local researchers are seizing this opportunity to improve treatment and care.

Read an interview with Dr. Chishala Chabala, a pediatrician and lecturer at the University of Zambia and the principal investigator of the SMILE-TB trial in Zambia, and Dr. Bwendo Nduna, the Senior Medical Superintendent Arthur Davison Children’s Hospital and an investigator of the SMILE-TB trial in Ndola, Zambia.

Source: SMART4TB