Leading Progress in Ending TB

In India, a country with one of the highest burdens of drug-resistant TB (DR-TB), Dr. Uma Devi worked tirelessly with the cross-cutting National Institute for Research in TB (NIRT) and CDC team to establish Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)-based surveillance of DR-TB. Throughout her career as a TB microbiology and immunology expert, Dr. Devi successfully introduced, validated, and piloted sequencing-based DR-TB surveillance and spearheaded an effort to sequence more than 2,200 TB samples. The samples were collected across 24 Indian States and Union Territories. Findings are being applied to build the foundation for a national laboratory network and by working in collaboration with the Central TB Division, Dr. Uma and the NIRT team developed India’s first national DR-TB sequencing database and analytics pipeline. The vast database was then used to build and publish a national catalog of bacteria mutations associated with DR-TB – the first India-specific reference of its kind, modeled after the WHO Catalogue. The dataset is now used to identify new drug resistance-associated mutations, detect DR-TB clusters, and reveal the geographic layout of DR-TB mutations, strains, and patterns.

For her leadership in strengthening the programmatic management of DR-TB in India, we recognize Dr. Uma Devi as a TB Elimination Champion.

Pictured: Dr. Uma Devi

Friends for International Tuberculosis Relief (FIT) has provided valuable support to the Vietnam National TB Program (NTP) through TB prevention and care strategies, technical assistance, advocacy, and research for nearly a decade. In partnership with a local social enterprise, Interactive Research and Development (IRD) Vietnam, FIT has successfully tested and rapidly scaled up community-based case finding for TB disease and infection. By improving TB detection and notification, FIT has become a model for building the capacity of national and local TB programs, promoting best practices, and advancing innovative approaches for health equity in care and prevention.

Since 2017, with CDC support, FIT and IRD Vietnam have conducted nearly 1,100 community-based screening events and provided X-ray screening and Xpert testing to over 255,000 people in 10 Vietnam provinces. As a result, approximately 1,800 individuals were diagnosed with TB and given access to lifesaving treatment. FIT also piloted and scaled innovative public-private strategies, during which over 766,000 adults and children were screened, 15,106 persons with TB were detected, and 8,300 cases from outside the Vietnam National TB Program were notified. FIT’s work did not stop during the COVID-19 pandemic, as they continued to inform national guidance and continue the critical recovery of TB services.

For their continued contributions and dedication to ending TB in Vietnam, we recognize FIT as TB Elimination Champions. 

Pictured: Dr. Thuc Ngo, FIT staff, positioning a participant during a CDC-supported screening campaign in remote mountainous areas using the novel ultra-portable X-ray system.

As a community nurse for 12 years with Partners in Health at Hospital Bon Sauveur in Cange Haiti, Yoldine Talina Jean Noël understands long hours and working weekends. Caring for patients with HIV-associated TB and multidrug-resistant TB (MDR TB), Talina has championed interventions to improve and ensure TB screening among people living with HIV (PLHIV). Talinia provides person-centered holistic care to patients with TB, paying close attention to their medical and mental health needs – often going above and beyond to collaborate with social workers, community workers, and psychologists to ensure patients with TB receive the care they need. When a patient was admitted with MDR TB and severe anemia, Talina rolled up her sleeve to donate blood when there was none.

During her time at Partners in Health, Talina has led multiple community campaigns to provide information, screenings, and ultimately an early diagnosis of TB – even partnering with traditional healers to ensure timely TB diagnosis and treatment. Through her efforts, and despite challenges, Talinia and her team at Partners in Health have screened over 10,500 PLHIV for TB and treated approximately 1,500 patients, including approximately 100 patients with MDR TB.

For her continued contributions and dedication to ending TB in Haiti, we recognize Yoldine Talina Jean Noël as a TB Elimination Champion. 

Pictured: Yoldine Talina Jean Noël

Prior to her appointment as the Assistant Commissioner of the TB/Leprosy Control Division at the Uganda Ministry of Health, Dr. Turyahabwe Stavia served as a national multidrug-resistant TB (MDR TB) coordinator. During her tenure as coordinator, Dr. Stavia provided technical oversight for the establishment and implementation of quality MDR TB care and support at the national level. As Assistant Commissioner, Dr. Stavia’s leadership has been critical in the development and implementation of a national TB strategic plan – a plan that keeps the individual at the center of treatment and care. In just three years, the innovative plan has proved to be a steady guide as the Ministry of Health and implementing partners transformed the national TB program. By the end of 2021, Uganda enrolled over one million people living with HIV on TB preventive treatment, surpassing the target set at the United Nations High-Level Meeting by 346 percent. In addition, from 2017 to 2022, TB case notifications increased by 40 percent. The accolades continued in 2022, with the World Health Organization declaring Uganda as one of the first countries with a high TB burden to achieve the milestone of the end TB strategy – reducing TB death by more than 35 percent when compared to 2015 levels.

For her continued contributions and steadfast leadership in ending TB in Uganda, we recognize Dr. Turyahabwe Stavia as a TB Elimination Champion. 

Pictured: Dr. Turyahabwe Stavia

In 2022, Ukraine Public Health Center, in partnership with CDC-Ukraine, undertook an innovative project to evaluate the impact of the TB Preventive Treatment (TPT) program among people living with HIV (PLHIV) in high multidrug-resistant TB (MDR TB) settings. Through continuous engagement with CDC in Atlanta, the team in Ukraine was able to conduct the evaluation despite being displaced and forced to flee the country due to the Russian invasion. However, some team members did remain in the capital city of Kyiv, where they continued to support the project, often dealing with electricity outages or bombing alerts. Not once did they say this work needed to stop because of ongoing conflict. This evaluation completed by the PROTECT Team provides the first large-scale data from a nationwide public health surveillance system showing isoniazid (INH) TPT is effective in decreasing TB incidence, even in a high MDR TB setting. The effect of INH TPT was independent of antiretroviral therapy and viral suppression, and importantly, it did not increase MDR TB rates among those who developed TB – providing significant implications both for TPT scale-up as well as for MDR TB prevention. As MDR TB and HIV co-infections continue to be a pressing public health problem, data supporting INH TPT effectiveness in these settings is invaluable to support TPT scale-up, not only in Ukraine but for PLHIV in other high MDR TB settings.

For their unwavering commitment to science, tuberculosis elimination, and, above all, to the population they serve, we recognize Ivan Doan, Roksolana Kulchynska, Ezra Barzilay, Nataliya Podolchak, Yevenhi Lysenko, and Larysa Hartman as TB Elimination Champions. 

Pictured from left to right: Ivan Doan, Roksolana Kulchynska, Ezra Barzilay, and Nataliya Podolcha

In CDC offices worldwide, countless champions are working to reduce the burden of HIV and TB in the communities we serve. These staff members provide expertise and local context to critical activities like the screening and initiation of TB preventative treatment (TPT) for people living with HIV (PLHIV). In addition, the support provided by local staff is a vital part of implementing innovative, patient-centered treatment regimens specific to their community. This year, CDC recognizes two in-country staff for their dedication to ending TB: 

As CDC-Uganda’s sole TB public health specialist, Dr. Deus Lukoye, tirelessly works to stop TB among people living with HIV. Through his unique approach, founded on public health diplomacy, diverse stakeholder engagement, data-driven decision-making, and strategic science, Dr. Lukoye has been relentless in expanding CDC’s efforts to end TB in Uganda. His impact is featured in a first-authored article on the huge scale-up of TB preventive therapy (TPT) in Uganda in Emerging Infectious Diseases. This study demonstrated that TPT coverage among PLHIV increased from less than 1 percent in October 2016 to 89 percent in March 2022.

In South Africa, Katlego Motlhaoleng serves as a TB/HIV public health specialist providing technical guidance to the South African National Department of Health and PEPFAR District Support Partners on the development, implementation, and monitoring of TB/HIV program activities designed to improve patient health outcomes. Her reach in ending TB extends to the policy level, where she contributed to the development and approval of the Targeted Universal TB Testing guidelines and the revised TPT guidelines. Katelgo’s efforts have improved PEPFAR-supported programs through a 36 percent year-over-year increase in TB case finding, achieving the 1st and 2nd UNAIDS goals in TB/HIV programming in FY22- Q4, and increasing the year-over-year TPT completion by 4 percent.


For their vital role in the TB and TB/HIV efforts, Katlego Motlhaoleng and Dr. Deus Lukoye are recognized as TB Elimination Champions.  

Pictured: Dr. Deus Lukoye and Katlego Motlhaoleng