Dr. Maziar Divangahi elected Member of the RSC
The TB Centre congratulates Maziar Divangahi for being elected member of the Royal Society of Canada. He is among 50 new members of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists in Canada.
TB REACH Grantees Photo Competition
TB REACH funds organizations in low- and middle-income countries working to increase identification of individuals with TB. The Winners of the 3rd Photo Competition have been announced.
TB Centre Activities
Summer courses, Research Day and monthly Seminars are useful for researchers, implementers and policy-makers in Global Health
In the Media
No doubt, COVID-19 will adversely affect all routine health services everywhere. But TB services is among the biggest casualties.
YouTube Channel
Our webinar series on Epidemiology for Health Journalists is a useful tool for communicating scientific publications.
TB Center in the Media
COVID-19 Coronavirus And Tuberculosis: We Need A Damage Control Plan
"No doubt, COVID-19 will adversely affect all routine health services everywhere. But TB services is might be one of the biggest casualties. ".
Read the Forbes article here
AIDS, TB And Malaria: Coronavirus Threatens The Endgame
"It is clear that the coronavirus pandemic has just made it incredibly difficult to script an endgame for the “Big Three” killer epidemics".
Read more
Recent media appearances
Click here for more
Impact of COVID-19 on TB
Briefing note | Global TB Caucus and the McGill International TB Center
TB kills 4000 people each day, and 1.5 million people each year. An estimated 10 million people fell ill in 2018, of which nearly half a million developed drug-resistant TB (DR-TB). It is the leading killer of people living with HIV/ AIDS today.
TB and COVID-19 are both airborne infectious diseases and have considerable social and economical impact. In the first quarter of 2020, COVID-19 has infected more than 700,000 people in 193 countries, and this number is rising at an alarming rate.
Anticipated impact of COVID-19 on people affected by TB and TB survivors
TB services will be impacted at various levels as resources are diverted to COVID-19 and the epidemic ramps up. So, high TB burden countries must do everything they can to protect people in treatment for TB and survivors from COVID-19 exposure.
Impact on the health care and TB infrastructure
COVID-19 will divert healthcare workforce and resources away from routine TB services. There may be a reduction in the number of health workers because of illness and self-isolation.
Impact on global TB resources
COVID-19 is already depleting and disrupting the global supply chain for all drugs, including TB medicines, and other products (e.g. N95 respirators).
In the longer term, countries may cut expenditure on TB, because of the massive economic loss due to COVID-19.
For more information on how to mitigate these impacts: English, French, Spanish, Indonesian, Portuguese and Russian
