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Communities to Drive Demand and Uptake of Drug-Resistant TB Testing and Treatment, With US$15.3 Million in Funding From Unitaid

29 May 2025

  • Newly recommended drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) regimens – which are shorter, safer, more effective and easier for patients to complete – are critical to stopping the spread of hard-to-treat forms of the disease.
  • Coupled with novel diagnostic approaches and community integration strategies, Unitaid’s investment will accelerate equitable access to DR-TB treatment and care in high-burden countries.
  • Three complementary projects, led by Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS (KELIN), Partners in Health (PIH) and the Stop TB Partnership, will support community-led scalable, cost-effective approaches to improve case-finding, treatment initiation, and resistance monitoring, while advancing human rights and strengthening national TB services.

29 May 2025 — Unitaid is launching new investments to strengthen the tuberculosis (TB) care cascade by accelerating access to innovative diagnostic tools and novel all-oral treatments for drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) in 16 high-burden countries across four continents. Through equitable, person-centered approaches designed and driven by TB-affected communities, this US$15.3 million investment will focus on reaching those with undiagnosed DR-TB and linking them to quality care.

TB remains the leading cause of death from an infectious disease and the rise of drug-resistance is worsening the crisis, with over 400,000 people developing DR-TB each year. Yet diagnosis rates remain low, and over half of those affected are never diagnosed or treated. This is largely due to limited access to reliable testing and affordable, effective treatment options.

Recent breakthroughs in DR-TB research have led to World Health Organization recommendations for the use of new shorter, all-oral treatment regimens. These regimens are safer, more effective and easier for patients to complete – compared to conventional treatments that can take up to two years and often involve daily injections with severe side effects. Novel diagnostic technologies that can quickly identify drug resistance can help pair patients with the most suitable course of treatment in just a few days. While efforts to introduce these innovations are underway, access is still limited in many countries.

“As a person who has lived through TB, I understand the value of being heard and involved. The Unitaid-supported projects will give the TB affected community not just a voice but a role in the fight against DR-TB. The community driven approach will save lives, restore dignity and demonstrate that we are partners in ending TB,” Stephen Anguva Shikoli, National coordinator Network of TB Champions Kenya.

Three complementary projects led by the Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS (KELIN), Partners in Health (PIH) and the Stop TB Partnership will bring quality prevention, diagnosis, and treatment services closer to those most vulnerable to the disease. Together, partners will implement innovative community-led strategies to strengthen the DR-TB care cascade by improving case-finding and linkages to care, and supporting people with DR-TB to stay on treatment. Unitaid’s investment will advance community-led interventions that create demand for new diagnostics and novel treatments, while addressing barriers that prevent people from getting tested and started on treatment, and helping countries strengthen the quality of care within national TB programs.

“Too many still lack access to timely, effective diagnosis and treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis” said Dr. Philippe Duneton, Executive Director of Unitaid. “With this investment, Unitaid is supporting interventions designed by and for the communities, to ensure that the latest innovations in drug-resistant TB reach those who need them most.”

The three projects will lead efforts to improve DR-TB care in Belarus, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Liberia, Moldova, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, South Africa, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Zimbabwe, with the goal of developing strategies that can be scaled up across high-burden countries globally.

As the largest multilateral funder of TB research and development, this latest investment builds on Unitaid’s broader TB portfolio which is accelerating access to innovative tools and strategies to test, treat and cure this disease. These investments pave the way for the future, ensuring that countries can integrate the best tools and approaches for TB prevention and treatment into national strategies as they become available.  The new funding follows the announcement that Unitaid and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) have secured an agreement with Korean manufacturer Poskom to significantly reduce the price of ultraportable AI-compatible chest X-ray devices, helping bring TB screening closer to communities.

Quotes from partners:

KELIN

“This project is a game-changer. It launches at a time when community interventions had suffered a setback due to reductions in funding. The project will provide a much-needed lifeline and revitalize community leadership and actions in the TB response. With better treatments now available, it is unacceptable that so many are still dying from drug-resistant TB. The COMBAT DR-TB Project will demonstrate that considerate gains can be made with community-driven approaches.” Allan Maleche, Executive Director, KELIN

Partners in Health

“Partners In Health has a long history of bringing better DR-TB screening, diagnosis, and treatment to poor and marginalized communities,” said Dr. Sheila Davis, CEO of Partners In Health. “We’re honored to collaborate with Unitaid and partners to provide more equitable care—and hopefully catalyze even more ambitious investments globally.”

Stop TB Partnership

“Despite recent progress in science resulting in better diagnostics and shorter treatment regimens for DR-TB, more than half of the people with this potentially fatal disease are not detected and put on life-saving treatment. I believe that this investment in communities affected by DR-TB will be a game changer. We thank Unitaid for believing and investing in TB-affected communities, even more now, in these funding-deprived environments.” — Dr. Lucica Ditiu, Executive Director, Stop TB Partnership.

Notes to editors

About drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB)

Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) is a form of tuberculosis (TB) that does not respond to the most commonly used antibiotics, making it harder to treat. It develops when TB bacteria survive ineffective or incomplete treatment, leading to strains that no longer respond to standard medicines. DR-TB spreads just like regular TB—through the air—but requires more advanced testing to detect and longer, more complex treatment regimens. Without timely diagnosis and effective care, DR-TB can be deadly and contribute to the global spread of antibiotic resistance. New, shorter, all-oral treatment regimens are now available, offering safer and more effective solutions to combat the disease. It is estimated that drug-resistant strains of TB will account for 25% of the AMR-related deaths and cost the global economy $16.7 trillion by the year 2050.

About WHO-recommended DR-TB treatments

In 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended four new, shorter all-oral regimens for DR-TB, expanding treatment options for people with DR-TB in low- and middle-income countries. These treatment regimens are recommended for pregnant women and children – groups historically excluded from or delayed in accessing new treatments. Three of the new regimens were developed through the Unitaid-funded endTB clinical trials led by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Partners In Health (PIH), and Interactive Research and Development (IRD) conducted in seven countries and concluded in 2023. The new treatments recommended by WHO rely on both new and pre-existing drugs that are already available on the market, off primary patent, and well-known to clinicians.

Project pages

 

Source: Unitaid

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