TB and Global Health Resources
Ending TB requires awareness of its impacts on communities, nations, and the global health system as a whole. We hope the videos, articles, organizations, and other resources on this site can help you learn more and teach others about global health challenges and what we can do about them. If you have other resources you think should be included, you can email us at contact at tbfighters dot org.
TB 101
To learn more about TB, check out the community-developed Tuberculosis Wiki (you can start with the page on tuberculosis itself), some YouTube videos, and MSF’s primer on the subject.
For Nerdfighteria’s involvement in TB activism, you can watch our playlists of vlogbrothers videos about the Johnson & Johnson Bedaquiline campaign and about the Danaher GeneXpert campaign.
More of our favorite sources:
- Why $5? Check out MSF’s technical brief on the Time For $5 campaign, to see why we think Danaher can still make a reasonable profit at that price point.
- The WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2023 provides up-to-date information and statistics on tuberculosis treatment and prevention.
Public Health Organizations and Campaigns
We are a recent addition to the numerous organizations and campaigns around the world fighting for equity in access to tuberculosis prevention, testing, and treatment, and directly providing care. We draw inspiration from those who have been on the ground and embedded in communities for decades, doing the work no matter how hard or how many resources were available. Please visit their websites for more information, related projects, and ways to support them.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| GeneXpert, Xpert cartridges (Xpert tests): | A molecular testing device that can be used to diagnose a variety of diseases and strains of disease. Xpert cartridges are single-use tests used in a GeneXpert device that test for specific strains of a disease. |
| LMIC(s): | Low- and middle-income countries as defined by the World Bank. For a list of countries included in this category and more information, check out Low & middle income | Data. |
| MDR-TB: | Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, which is TB that has developed resistance to the two most common and effective antibiotic drugs used against tuberculosis. |
| Nerdfighteria (Nerdfighters): | The community that sprung up around John and Hank Green’s videos. Nerdfighters define themselves by a commitment to never “forget to be awesome,” a strong desire to help fight against an unjust world, and a general love for all things nerdy. |
| Patent evergreening: | Any process through which a corporation or patent holder tries to extend soon-to-expire patents, often in order to delay generic production of their product. |
| Tuberculosis (TB): | A disease directly caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria, which usually manifests in the lungs and spreads through the air, primarily through sustained close contact. TB is usually a curable disease, but when left untreated about half of people with active TB will die of it. |
| XDR-TB: | Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, or TB that has developed resistance to both core drugs found in TB treatment and preventive regimens, as well as at least two additional important drugs in TB treatments. |
| Xpert HBV Viral Load cartridges | Single-use tests that are run on a GeneXpert testing device for hepatitis B virus (HBV). HBV viral load tests are used to initiate treatment and monitor treatment response. Xpert HBV cartridges are currently sold for $15. |
| Xpert HCV Viral Load cartridges | Single-use tests that are run on a GeneXpert testing device for hepatitis C virus (HCV). Viral load tests are a necessary step in testing for chronic HCV and also used in treatment monitoring. Xpert HCV cartridges are the only near point-of-care tests with WHO prequalification and give results in two hours. These cartridges are currently sold for $15. |
| Xpert HIV-1 Qual cartridges | Single-use tests that are run on a GeneXpert testing device for diagnosis of HIV. Xpert HIV Qual cartridges are used mostly for early infant diagnosis, where rapid turnaround is crucial. These cartridges can diagnose HIV in 1.5 hours, but are currently sold for $15. |
| Xpert HIV-1 Viral Load cartridges | Single-use tests that are run on a GeneXpert testing device for HIV treatment monitoring.These tests are often used in situations where fast turnaround is required, and have a 90 minute run time. Xpert HIV Viral Load cartridges are currently sold for $15. |
| Xpert MTB/RIF cartridges: | Single-use tests that are run on a GeneXpert testing device. MTB/RIF tests diagnose tuberculosis and identify whether a case is resistant to rifampin–one of the two most common and effective TB drugs in use. These cartridges are now sold for $7.97, after a price drop in September 2023. |
| Xpert MTB/XDR cartridges: | Single-use tests that are run on a GeneXpert testing device after receiving a positive MTB/RIF test, that diagnose resistance to additional TB drugs. These cartridges are currently sold for $15 |