The Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health released a 17-point call to action at the start of the World Health Assembly (WHA) on May 18. The commission discussed many scientifically proven connections between climate change and health, including mental health, non-communicable diseases, and maternal and early childhood nutrition. These topics also have direct connections to tuberculosis.
Case in point, new research commissioned by WHO and published in The Lancet provides a framework underlining and connecting all of these topics—climate change, TB, the WHA agenda items, and more. The researchers concluded that so many of the health impacts from climate change also worsen the TB pandemic, and that it is only a matter of time before climate change becomes a primary barrier to ending tuberculosis as a global health threat—if it hasn’t become one already.
Dr. Maria Beumont, vice president for clinical and safety at TB Alliance, is available for interviews on the connections between TB and climate change and the need for more resources so that we can actually end TB in our lifetime.
For more information:
- “Climate change is a health crisis – and fixing it is a health opportunity,” World Health Organization, May 2026.
- “Climate change and tuberculosis: an analytical framework,” The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, March 2026.
- “Environmental-demographic determinants associated with tuberculosis prevalence in seven African countries: an aggregated dataset analysis,” eClinicalMedicine, February 2026.
- “Call to action: climate change and health threats to the Pacific Islands,” Tropical Medicine and Health, January 2026.
- “Tuberculosis and the climate crisis in Latin America: a predicament of poverty, migration and displacement,” BMJ Global Health, April 2025.
Speedy drug-resistant TB treatment rollout sets new precedent
Several new reports dive into the detail of how TB Alliance engineered a rollout that brought the BPaL regimen to so many drug-resistant TB patients so swiftly. It typically takes 7 to 9 years to achieve widespread access for a new global health product, but TB Alliance cut that time to three years.
Shrinking the rollout required training more than 12,000 clinical and laboratory personnel in 48 countries, while enhancing drug-resistance identification and other laboratory infrastructure, pharmacovigilance systems, and data platforms.
TB Alliance’s efforts not only rapidly increased access to the BPaL regimen (which reduced treatment time from 18+ months to 6 months), they strengthened the healthcare systems struggling with one of the world’s hardest to cure infections.
Sandeep Juneja, TB Alliance’s senior vice president for market access, is available for interviews on the BPaL rollout and the elements that helped drive its success.
For more information:
- “The Impact of LIFT-TB Project on fast-tracking the broad adoption and scale-up of improved drug-resistant TB treatment regimens,” Report Summary, April 2026.
- “Orchestrating faster access to products of non-profit R&D: a case study of a novel regimen for drug-resistant tuberculosis,” BMJ Global Health, April 2026.
- “HPR89 What Non-Profit Development of Pretomanid Can Teach About Paths to Innovation and Global Access to Treatments for Diseases of Poverty?,” Value in Health, July 2025.
Stronger support for TB patients
New research closely examines the experiences of TB patients in Hyderabad, India, to determine the factors that interfere with their adherence to treatment regimens. Identified risk factors included socioeconomic status, educational status, marital status, side effects of drugs, awareness about treatment completion, and smoking.
Support for TB patients has long been an under-appreciated aspect of TB care. Such support would allow more patients to recover their health, with fewer infections becoming drug-resistant (which occurs when treatment is discontinued prematurely). But in the background, the need for new TB cures—ones that take much less time than the six months of the current treatment regimens—remains increasingly obvious.
Sandeep Juneja, TB Alliance’s senior vice president for market access, is available for interviews on the importance of patient support and the work supported by Fast Track the Cure, one of the initiatives implemented through the work of how countries roll out the BPaL regimen. We could also connect journalists with experts handling patient support in high-burden settings.
For more information:
- “Factors Influencing Non-adherence to Treatment Among New Patients with Tuberculosis in the Field Practice Area of a Tertiary Care Hospital in Hyderabad: A Cross-Sectional Study,” Cureus, April 2026.
- “Health-related quality of life and associated factors among adult tuberculosis patients in Kembata Zone, Southern Ethiopia: a mixed-methods cross-sectional study,” BMC Infectious Diseases, January 2026.
- “When universal coverage is not enough: a mixed methods exploration of tuberculosis medication adherence in Bangkok,” Research Square, January 2026.
New TB technologies are surging forward—they need to reach those in need
The BPaL regimen is not the only new TB technology of note. A new TB screening tool tests for the infection through a tongue swab, which is a significantly easier process than collecting sputum. The World Health Organization is forming guidance for the development of long-acting injectables (LAIs), a method of delivering medicine that has revolutionized treatment and prevention of many other diseases (including HIV/AIDS).
Researchers are producing new technologies to meet global health needs, but equal emphasis should be placed on guiding implementation and rollout of these innovations. And the innovations need to be flexible. For example, a study from October 2025 found that the BPaLM regimen remained effective for treating DR-TB regardless of whether patients were evaluated for drug resistance against moxifloxacin and other fluoroquinolones.
Mel Spigelman, MD, President and CEO of TB Alliance, is available for interviews discussing the continuing emergence of new technologies in the TB field—including the promise of LAIs—and the need for speed in their rollout.
For more information:
- “Pulmonary Tuberculosis Detection with MiniDock MTB Using Swab Samples,” New England Journal of Medicine, April 2026.
- “Target regimen profiles for long-acting injectables for tuberculosis prevention & treatment,” World Health Organization, April 2026.
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