Endorse the TB Vax ARM wins needed to deliver new TB vaccines this decade
#Wins4TBVax
The TB Vax ARM has outlined three key advocacy wins for the field to achieve by 2026 in order to effectively advance TB vaccine development and ensure their equitable and affordable access this decade. Check them out below and sign our petition to show your support!
New TB vaccines could be available this decade – with some ready for licensure as early as 2028. At the United Nations High-Level Meeting (HLM) on TB in 2023, world governments endorsed commitments to invest at least US $5 billion per year in TB research and development (R&D) by 2027 and to develop and roll-out new TB vaccines this decade, preferably within five years. This will only be possible with significantly increased investments in their development and delivery.
New TB vaccines would help break the cycle of the TB pandemic, fight global antimicrobial resistance (AMR), reduce the leading cause of death for people with HIV and AIDS, advance health equity, avert millions in costs to people with TB and their families, and improve global economic growth for years ahead. We are in a historic moment in TB vaccine development with at least 16 candidates in the clinical pipeline, including multiple promising candidates in late-stage efficacy trials and several more in preclinical development. Efforts are also underway to ensure new TB vaccines will be affordably and equitably accessible to all who need them.
The TB Vaccine Advocacy Roadmap (TB Vax ARM) has outlined three key advocacy wins for the field to achieve by 2026 in order to effectively advance TB vaccine development and ensure their equitable and affordable access once licensed. We will use these wins as guideposts for our advocacy efforts for the coming two years, including an assessment of progress ahead of World TB Day 2025.
Our wins are:
- Measurable increases in national and joint, multilateral funding and financing for TB vaccine R&D
- Explicit and transparent commitments and plans from developers and governments to ensure equitable access
- TB vaccines and TB R&D are integrated into AMR and other relevant global health agendas
Keep scrolling to read the wins in detail, find translations, discover our plans, and learn what you can do to support us!
Join the call!
We invite TB advocates around the world to endorse the TB Vax ARM wins as a call to action to world leaders, vaccine developers, and global health funders.
Win 1
Measurable increases in national and joint, multilateral funding and financing for TB vaccine R&D
Why is this important?
We need to fill the financial gaps across the TB vaccine pipeline and remove financial barriers to efficiently conduct clinical trials and avoid delays, particularly for late-stage candidates. Governments must increase public investments for TB R&D to 0.15% of their countries’ total research expenditure to meet their fair-share of the $5 billion TB R&D funding target. Joint, multilateral funding is critical to meet this need. Innovative funding mechanisms based on partnerships of governments, including high TB burden, middle income countries, and other interested parties could effectively support an accelerated TB vaccine R&D agenda.
What would this win look like?
- Governments and multilateral agencies make diversified, increased, and joint investments in TB vaccine development to meet key funding priorities, particularly for late-stage candidates.
- Governments make significant progress toward meeting fair share targets.
- Global health institutions and funders, including development banks, at the country, regional, and global level explicitly include TB vaccine R&D in funding calls and annual and longer-term strategies to ensure sustainable and adequate financing.
- The WHO TB Vaccine Accelerator Council identifies R&D financing as a key priority and actively engages in supporting resource mobilization to meet funding targets.
Win 2
Explicit and transparent commitments and plans from developers and governments to ensure equitable access
Why is this important?
Evidence informed access plans and country-level introduction strategies need to be developed alongside late-stage clinical development to ensure accelerated, affordable, and equitable access to new TB vaccines. Doing so requires a robust set of country-preparedness activities, including determining target populations, identifying preferred implementation approaches, and establishing the necessary infrastructure. Community engagement is likewise essential to build trust in communities that will use new TB vaccines. In order for new TB vaccines to be universally accessible, financing for their development must be tied to requirements that ensure regionally distributed manufacturing and affordable pricing.
What would this win look like?
- Relevant global agencies, including GAVI (i.e., the Vaccine Investment Strategy), the Global Fund, and PEPFAR, include TB vaccines in their vaccine delivery strategies.
- Relevant global, regional, and national bodies, including WHO offices and national TB and immunization programs of TB endemic countries, define TB vaccines as a key priority and clearly articulate implementation strategies.
- TB vaccine developers make access plans transparent and publicly available, including terms for data sharing, public dissemination of results, and technology transfer, and a set of globally agreed on access conditions are developed to facilitate this effort..
- TB vaccine developers and relevant global, regional, and national bodies facilitate robust collaboration with and leadership of TB affected communities and civil society in TB vaccine advocacy and preparedness efforts.
Win 3
TB vaccines and TB R&D are integrated into AMR and other relevant global health agendas
Why is this important?
Drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) is a leading cause of death due to AMR. Of the over 400,000 people estimated to fall sick with DR-TB in 2022, less than 176,000 accessed treatment. New TB vaccines would reduce the need for antibiotics, avert escalating costs, and save millions of lives. Preventing future pandemics requires tackling the most serious threats today. TB deserves concerted attention within any new pandemic preparedness and response (PPR) initiative. Investing in TB vaccine R&D can build adaptable and sustainable research capacities, strengthening the infrastructure needed to address future threats. Yet, TB vaccines have been left out of AMR and PPR initiatives — a missed opportunity to address intersecting crises.
What would this win look like?
- Key AMR declarations, including in the Political Declaration of the HLM on AMR that takes place on 26 September 2024, reference TB vaccines as a priority.
- Relevant national, regional, and global bodies, including in the European Union’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA), explicitly include TB vaccines in their AMR and PPR strategies
- National governments and multilateral initiatives issue AMR funding calls that support TB vaccine R&D in alignment with the WHO’s 2020 Action Framework on Leveraging Vaccines to Reduce Antibiotic Use and Prevent Antimicrobial Resistance which calls for accelerated development of more effective TB vaccines, with the highest level of ‘Priority 1: critical’.
What does the TB Vax ARM plan to do?
The TB Vax ARM plans to support these wins through a range of advocacy actions, including:
- Develop online advocacy resources, campaigns, and policy briefs for use by TB advocates around the world to articulate demands and present solutions to incentivize investment and engagement in TB vaccine development and delivery.
- Liaise with representatives of national, regional, and global bodies and institutions to facilitate the prioritization of TB vaccines in relevant agendas, work plans, and declarations, including through letters, consultations, and in person meetings, beginning with the HLM on AMR.
- Collaborate with civil society organizations (CSO) and community members advocating toward key global agencies, including GAVI and the Global Fund, to leverage our joint capacities to demand the prioritization of TB vaccines.
- Support the development of a benchmark assessment for (TB) vaccine access plans, defining key conditions and terms to ensure affordable and equitable access.
- Increase TB vaccine literacy and demand generation efforts among diverse stakeholders, including CSO, community advisory boards, procurement agencies, and national bodies.
What can you do?
- Find out what your country is doing to support global health R&D. This may include looking at R&D strategies and what diseases and technologies are supported, including for TB and vaccine development. To do this, you can:
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- Research, online or through networking, what your government and parliament have said and done to support TB vaccine development. The websites of your government agencies, parliamentary committees, or experts at your local or national university might be particularly helpful for this.
- Check out the Treatment Action Group’s TB research funding report. If your country isn’t included, contact TAG to find out why not.
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- Reach out to decision makers in your country to learn what they are doing to support the development of new TB vaccines and ask them to support the call to meet your country’s fair share target. To do this you can:
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- Send an inquiry to your local National TB Program or National Immunization Technical Advisory Group
- Reach out to your local MP or a parliamentarian from your country engaged with the Global TB Caucus
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- Amplify, share, and adapt TB vaccine advocacy resources in your local contexts and online to help raise awareness about the need for new TB vaccines and work with other interested organizations.
- Subscribe to the TB Vax ARM mailing list to stay up to date with TB vaccine news and advocacy actions to support our wins.
- Let us know if you would like to support us with specific actions or if you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions – email us at spalmer@iavi.org. We’d love to hear from you!