In response to early warnings that COVID-19 was having a devastating impact on people affected by TB and TB programs around the world, 10 global networks quickly came together to take action. They launched a civil society-led survey, aimed at richening our understanding of experiences in various regions and key stakeholder groups, with the following objectives:
- To identify critical gaps and needs in TB services resulting from the pandemic and raise awareness among national governments, program implementers, policymakers, parliamentarians1 and the wider global health community
- To raise the voices of TB-affected communities and civil society to ensure their ideas and concerns were incorporated into national, regional, and global responses
- To support greater alignment of TB and COVID-19 priorities and services at country level
- To work collaboratively to ensure coordinated advocacy efforts and concrete political actions to address identified gaps in funding, resources, and services
- To strengthen engagement of and relationships across TB-affected communities and civil-society networks engaged in the fight to end TB.
The findings of the survey offer a grassroots perspective on how COVID-19 is impacting five key stakeholder groups, namely, people with TB, frontline healthcare workers, program and policy officers, TB researchers, and TB advocates. The report provides a summary of findings for each stakeholder group.