COVID-19 and the fight against it have taken a devastating toll on countries with the highest burden of tuberculosis, threatening to reverse up to 8 years of progress in the fight against TB.
On September 14-16, the National Academies’ Forum on Microbial Threats hosted a workshop on Innovations for Tackling TB in the Time of COVID-19. Arcady founder, Bruce Thomas, served as one of the virtual event speakers. Goals of the program included to:
- Assess the status of the global fight against TB
- Explore the promise that new technologies that have emerged during COVID-19 might have for TB
- Identify the key paths forward to accelerate TB eradication
Bruce concluded his presentation by sharing that COVID-19 has accelerated a shift toward largely “at home care” for persons affected by TB. He stated that the toolkit has evolved to support that model and encouraged stakeholder to not shift back to facility-based care models.