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Tuberculosis
As a disease of poverty, tuberculosis (TB) is claiming 1.6 million lives each year in lower-income countries throughout our region and the world. Given Results’ overarching mission to end global poverty, and our experience and reputation for impactful global health advocacy, TB is a natural focal point for our campaigning activities.
TB is one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, often devastating poor and marginalized communities. It is an airborne disease caused by bacteria that primarily affects the lungs and has plagued humanity for millenia. Over the past two centuries, TB has killed more than one billion people. Remarkably, we can end TB within a decade. To do this, we must support countries to diagnose and treat the disease effectively.
Our TB campaigns have often focused on the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, as this respected public-private partnership provides 76% of all international TB financing. Our first major success with the Global Fund was in 2008-09, when our support and government outreach were acknowledged by the Global Fund as key factors leading to Australia’s participation in the Debt2Health Initiative, which resulted in millions of dollars being directed to domestic TB programs in Indonesia.
The impact of the Global Fund:
Results has since been a leading player in the Global Fund’s triennial replenishment events. Supported by our national network of volunteer advocates, and aligned civil society partners domestically and globally, we work to raise awareness of the burden of TB in the Indo-Pacific region and encourage Australia to contribute its fair share to the Global Fund. Since our involvement began, the Australian government’s pledges have increased from $135 million for the Second Replenishment in 2007 to $266 million for the Seventh Replenishment in 2022.
Throughout 2022, Results made the case for a strong increase in Australia’s contribution to the Global Fund at the Seventh Replenishment Conference held in New York during September. On World TB Day, the Global Fund’s Executive Director, Peter Sands, spoke about the important role the Global Fund plays in the fight against TB as a special guest at a virtual parliamentary event hosted by Results and the Australian TB Caucus. Results also made the case for strong Australian investment in the media, and released a booklet on Australia’s role in the fight to end TB, calling for an increased contribution. After the 2022 federal election, our network of volunteer advocates participated in 100 Days of Advocacy, meeting their local MPs and Senators in the first 100 days of the new Parliament to speak with them about the importance of the Global Fund, and encourage their MP to take action in ending global poverty.
This proven track record of increased investment has only been made possible by our advocacy work to raise the profile of TB in Australia. Results is secretariat to the Australian TB Caucus (launched in 2016), a cross-partisan parliamentary friendship group. The Caucus brings together members of the House of Representatives and Senators keen to champion support and expertise for the global eradication of TB. The Caucus focuses on the Asia-Pacific region and increasing awareness about TB and its impact.
We also conduct large-scale advocacy campaigns every year to mark World TB Day on 24th March, including parliamentary briefing events, motions raised by MPs in the House of Representatives, and our awareness-raising “Light Up Red for TB” event (part of the global "Light Up Red" campaign) reaching buildings and monuments across the country.
Results is also acutely aware of the need for increased R&D funding, to help protect low- and middle-income countries in our neighbouring Indo-Pacific region from the threat of TB. Our main TB campaign in 2020 focused heavily on MP outreach and public op-eds to encourage greater Australian investment in TB R&D. In that year, the government announced $8.3 million to fund four new research projects addressing drug-resistant TB and antimicrobial resistance in the Pacific Islands. Results continues to call for increased investments in TB, including TB R&D, in order to meet global targets. Without this, we will remain off track to end TB by 2030.
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