Nutrition and Tuberculosis | May 25-28 2026

COURSE FORMAT

Online only. The course will be live to online participants from approximately 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM, Indian Standard Time zone (9:00 AM -12:00 PM Montreal, EDT time zone) each day. Live content will be recorded and accessible to participants until July 1, 2026.

DESCRIPTION

TB is a disease with social determinants implicated in both its causation and outcomes. Undernutrition is a key biological expression of social inequality, which is the leading risk factor for TB incidence globally, and a serious comorbidity in patients with TB, contributing to poor outcomes. Other common comorbidities like HIV infection and diabetes
have nutritional consequences, and nutritional care is an integral part of comprehensive care for these comorbidities too. This course will provide state of the art knowledge and evidence on the interactions between TB and nutrition, discuss technical and operational aspects of nutritional assessment, counselling, and provision of nutritional support, and outline areas of research in this emerging field in TB care and prevention.

COURSE DIRECTOR

Anurag Bhargava, MD, MSc.
Professor, Department of Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal Adjunct Professor, McGill University, Montreal

COURSE COORDINATOR

Madhavi Bhargava, MD
Professor, Dept of Community Medicine, Yenepoya Medical College

CONTENT

Tuberculosis continues to be a public health problem globally, with more than 10 million new cases and 1.5 million deaths annually. The challenge of reducing TB incidence lies in the fact that a large part of the population in high TB burden countries has evidence of TB infection and is at risk of TB disease. In the absence of an effective vaccine and the operational challenges of the roll-out of tuberculosis preventive treatment, the decline of TB incidence has been only 2-3% annually.

The prevalence of undernutrition in people with TB is estimated to be 48%. People with undernutrition are more than twice as likely to fall ill from TB. They also have a higher risk of poor treatment outcomes, such as death and loss to follow-up, compared to those who do not have undernutrition. The evidence generated from the RATIONS trial shows that nutritional supplementation can have a significant impact on TB incidence and mortality. The WHO now acknowledges that undernutrition is the leading risk for TB incidence globally, and has recently revised the 2013 guidelines on undernutrition as a comorbidity of TB. In this course, participants will learn from experts in clinical medicine and nutrition, public health specialists, researchers from across the globe (including the team from the RATIONS trial) about the various interactions and implications of nutrition in the areas of tuberculosis care, prevention, research, policy and advocacy. This course will provide knowledge, insights and skills to the participants to address this important factor in practice and policy in their local and regional contexts.

This course will cover the role of nutrition in TB care and prevention. The topics include nutritional assessment, counselling, and management of undernutrition, apart from the sessions on the latest guidelines and evidence. The overall aim is to provide participants with practical knowledge to apply in clinical practice, public health, and policy contexts. Participants will engage with leading experts and gain valuable skills to support TB care and prevention in diverse settings.

OBJECTIVES

By the end of the course, participants will:

• Understand nutritional requirements, causes, and consequences of undernutrition, including its effects on TB infection and disease.
• Learn about nutritional issues in TB patients, especially those with comorbidities like diabetes and HIV, and develop basic skills in nutritional assessment (history, anthropometry, clinical exam, dietary evaluation, biochemical assessment).
• Gain knowledge of nutritional counselling and management of undernutrition, including severe cases in TB care.
• Discuss recent research, guidelines, and the implementation of nutritional supplementation in TB care and prevention.
• Grasp cost-effectiveness analysis and modelling of nutritional interventions, and apply this knowledge to TB care and prevention programs.

COURSE FACULTY IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

• Alan Jackson: Director of NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre for Nutrition, Southampton, UK;
• Anurag Bhargava: Professor, Department of Medicine, Kasturba Medical College Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal; Adjunct Professor, McGill University, Montreal
• Annabel Baddeley: Technical Officer, Vulnerable populations, Communities and Comorbidities, Global TB Programme, WHO;
• Ashna Ashesh: Lawyer, Public Health Professional, MDR TB Survivor, Survivors Against TB (SATB);
• Charlotte Taderera: Geriatric Physician, University Hospitals Sussex, United Kingdom; 
• Edson Marambire: TB Research Lead, The Health Research Unit, Biomedical Research and Training Institute, Zimbabwe; 
• Finn McQuaid: Associate Professor, Dept of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Dynamics, Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health;
• Hemant D. Shewade: Scientist E, Division of Health Systems Research, ICMR National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE), Chennai, India;
• Jeyashree Kathiresan: Scientist E (Medical), ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai, India/Associate Professor, Faculty of Medical Research, India, Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), India
• Jennifer Furin: Harvard Medical School, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Boston;
• Leyla Larsson: Research Fellow in the Clinical Department at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine;
• Madhavi Bhargava: Professor, Dept of Community Medicine, Yenepoya Medical College, Deputy Head, Center for Nutrition Studies, YDU;
• Pranay Sinha: Assistant Professor, Section of Infectious Diseases, Boston University, Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine;
• Scott Heysell: Thomas H. Hunter Professor of International Medicine, University of Virginia;

TARGET AUDIENCE

• Students of Global Health and Medicine
• Clinicians, Nurses, National TB program managers
• TB researchers, nutrition professionals and researchers
• TB champions and advocates from civil society organizations
• Health systems implementers and researchers.

ENROLMENT

Limited to 120 online participants.