Planning for Tuberculosis Vaccines
Building on experience with malaria vaccines, Sarah is currently working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and its partners to plan for the near-term licensure and introduction of the world’s first new tuberculosis vaccines in one hundred years. Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the world’s top infectious disease killers. According to the World Health Organization, in 2022, 10.6 million people fell ill with TB worldwide and an astonishing 1.3 million people died from the disease. TB is also the leading cause of deaths among people with HIV and a significant cause of antimicrobial resistance related deaths. With numbers like these, the potential demand for a TB vaccine is high, but the policy pathways to support introduction of adult and adolescent vaccines with uncertain financing mechanisms and diverse health systems are complex. In 2022, eight countries accounted for more than two-thirds of the global disease burden, including: India, Indonesia, China, the Philippines, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. To ensure future access to new preventive TB vaccines in low- and middle-income countries where the TB burden is highest, Sarah supports strategy, policy, and advocacy activities at the global, regional, and national levels to prepare for future TB vaccine implementation. In 2023, Sarah consulted national stakeholders in the TB high-burden countries of Indonesia, Kenya, and the Philippines to understand the policy pathways, potential hurdles and decision-making factors for new TB vaccines.
