Funding for tuberculosis research-an urgent crisis of political will, human rights, and global solidarity

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) killed more people in 2015 than any other single infectious agent, but funding for research to develop better prevention, diagnosis, and treatment methods for TB declined to its lowest level in 7 years. TB research and development (R&D) is woefully underfunded, a situation best viewed as a crisis of political will and a failure on the part of governments to see unmet innovation needs in the TB response as a human rights issue requiring immediate action. Over 60% of available money for TB R&D comes from public sources, and 67% of public money comes from a single country: the USA. The election of Donald Trump to the US presidency in November 2016 has introduced great uncertainty into the support that science generally, and TB research in particular, will receive in the coming years. Advocacy on the part of all actors-from civil society to TB-affected communities to scientists themselves-is urgently needed to increase US government support for TB research moving forward.

Keywords: Advocacy; Funding; Human rights; Tuberculosis research.