For decades researchers have sought to shorten and improve treatment regimens for drug-sensitive and drug-resistant TB. In the last few years these efforts have yielded positive results — we can now treat drug-sensitive TB in just four months and drug-resistant TB in six-months. And efforts to further iterate on, shorten, and optimize treatment regimens are ongoing. From the 2022 Union World Conference on Lung Health to the 2023 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, in the last six-months, several phase III treatment trials reported results with potential implications for TB policy and future research.

On March 14, 2023, Treatment Action Group (TAG) and Dr. Jennifer Furin gave an overview of key results and breakdown of how they fit into the larger TB policy and research landscapes. This webinar was intended for community and civil society audiences, and provided a forum for members of TB-affected communities and civil society to hear directly from an expert, ask questions, and discuss next steps for ensuring that communities are able to access the benefits of scientific progress and shape the agenda for future research to further optimize TB treatment regimens. You can watch the webinar recording below.

Jennifer Furin, MD., PhD is an infectious diseases clinician and medical anthropologist with almost 30 years of experience doing community-based TB work.  She is currently a lecturer in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine of Harvard Medical School and has experience implementing TB programs and carrying out research in multiple settings, including South Africa, Peru, Tajikistan, Eswatini, Ukraine, and Malawi.