PEPFAR launches new effort to fight TB: Goal to detect two million cases and prevent 500,000 deaths

22 September 2023: Today, the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) launched an effort to detect two million active tuberculosis (TB) cases over the next five years and prevent at least 500,000 TB-related deaths among people living with HIV. According to estimates, more than half of the current TB cases among people living with HIV go undiagnosed. PEPFAR and its partners are committed to using new tools and new approaches that dramatically increase TB diagnosis and treatment coverage for people living with HIV.

The first phase of this initiative will prioritize PEPFAR-supported countries with a high burden of HIV and TB, such as South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique. The effort will focus primarily on people living with HIV most at risk to die of TB such as children, older adults, and people with advanced HIV. Globally, TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases and is the leading cause of death for people living with HIV, responsible for an estimated 187,000 deaths in 2021—approximately one-third of all HIV-related deaths. PEPFAR’s new effort will focus on closing the existing equity gaps to reach and maintain full TB diagnosis and treatment coverage in all PEPFAR-supported programs.

This new effort is part of the United States’ commitment to the United Nations High-Level Meeting 2027 target of detecting and treating TB among 90 percent of the estimated people who develop TB and is part of the Administration’s commitment to strengthening the global health security architecture to combat health threats around the world.