The TB Vaccine Advocacy Roadmap (TB Vax ARM) and Stop TB Partnership Working Group on New TB Vaccines, in collaboration with IAVI, hosted seven participants in the TB vaccine advocacy fellowship in February and March 2023. The fellows, representing affected community members, advocates, and early career researchers from five different countries, came together for an online skill-sharing and co-creation program. The fellowship featured a lineup of workshops led by advocacy experts from around the world to help the fellows hone their skills to develop and contribute to future advocacy campaigns.
Running throughout February and March, the program was designed to help cultivate a new generation of TB vaccine R&D advocates and stimulate more diverse advocacy efforts for TB vaccine R&D ahead of the United Nations High-Level Meeting (UNHLM) on TB in September 2023 and beyond.
Open Letter Campaign
Together, the fellows developed an open letter campaign demanding that world leaders urgently increase investments in TB vaccine R&D to deliver new TB vaccines this decade to end TB. Signed by over 1,180 individuals and organizations from over 90 countries, the letter will play an important part in amplifying the voices of the global TB community in demanding new TB vaccines at the UNHLM on TB.
Meet the fellows
- Bello Abdussalam, 5th year medical student, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria
- Keyuri Bhanushali, fellow, Survivors Against TB, Mumbai, India
- Mbali Mkhonza, PhD candidate, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa
- Charlton Muchemwa, programme officer at Pangaea Zimbabwe AIDS Trust, Harare, Zimbabwe
- Joseph Mwaka, head of infectious disease response, Bidibidi refugee camp, Amuru, Uganda
- Bakul Piplani, molecular microbiologist, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India
- Zethu Sonyoka, MSc candidate, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa
Click here to learn more about the fellows
Workshops
- Why TB vaccines: the promising science
David Lewinsohn, Chair, WGNV (Oregon, USA) - Funding & advocacy landscape for TB vaccine R&D
Erin McConnell, Senior TB Associate, Treatment Action Group (New York, USA) - Considerations for grassroots advocacy
Chapal Mehra, Survivors Against TB (New Delhi, India) - Considerations for direct advocacy
Deborah Ikeh, Francophone & West Africa Regional Manager, Global TB Caucus (Abuja, Nigeria) - Researchers as advocates: finding a common ground
Cheleka Mpande, independent practitioner (Geneva Switzerland) - Messaging for impact
Priyanka Aiyer, Communications Specialist, Global Fund Advocates Network (New Delhi, India) - How to run a successful campaign
Rosemary Mburu, Executive Director, WACI Health (Nairobi, Kenya)
Who is the TB Vax ARM?
- An informal global network of TB advocates
- Dedicated to mobilizing support and resources for TB vaccine R&D
- Engaged in political advocacy, including the G20 Open Letter
Visit the Take Action page for more information about the TB Vax ARM.