Eliminating tuberculosis in Canada is possible. But we need a plan.

Stop TB Canada and partners across Canada are calling on the government to develop and implement a National Tuberculosis Elimination Strategy to guide national efforts to end TB.

Tuberculosis in Canada

Newcomer Canadians with TB generally became infected with latent TB overseas in places with a much higher prevalence of TB than Canada, reflecting our strong connection to the global TB epidemic. There is little transmission of TB in Canada from this group, even though they make up the majority of Canadians falling ill with TB. Newcomer communities also face challenges with regards to the social determinants of health mentioned above, including stigma, barriers to healthcare access, and poverty.

Efforts to address TB in Inuit communities are ongoing. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) has developed an Inuit-specific TB Strategy emphasizing community education, addressing the social determinants of health, and the use of Inuit-centered approaches to TB prevention, care, surveillance, and research. Furthermore, the Canadian government has committed to eliminating TB across Inuit Nunangat by 2030. With these commitments in place, now we need action. We are calling on Canada to establish a National Tuberculosis Elimination Strategy to scale up efforts to end TB.

At the time of confederation in 1867, tuberculosis (TB) was the leading cause of death in Canada. Although the overall incidence of TB in Canada today is low (4.7 per 100,000 people in 2020), it is disproportionately higher in newcomer, First Nations, and Inuit communities. Alarmingly, the prevalence of TB is more than 300 times higher in Inuit communities than among the non-Indigenous Canadian-born population.

This exemplifies deep inequities in social determinants of health, particularly in relation to housing, access to care, and the prevalence of comorbidities that increase the risk of TB. Unfortunately, national-level TB data for Canada are lacking, which is impeding our ability to understand and respond to the impact that COVID-19 has had on TB programs. Updated and comprehensive data are urgently needed to shape an effective response to TB in Canada.

Canada urgently needs a National Tuberculosis Elimination Strategy

  1. Improving TB screening strategies among high-priority groups.

  2. Addressing the social determinants of health and barriers to TB care.

  3. Improving access to essential medicines for TB treatment.

  4. Implementing a timely tuberculosis surveillance infrastructure.

  5. Adopting accountability, monitoring, and evaluation measures for programming.

The network will be engaging with parliamentarians to gain their support for a National TB Elimination Strategy, collecting signatures for this letter to the Minister of Health. We will send this letter to the Minister ahead of World TB Day 2023.

Help us increase the political will to end TB in Canada by asking your Member of Parliament for their support. See instructions below for how you can take action.

Following the publication of the Canadian Thoracic Society TB Standards 8th edition earlier this year, the Stop TB Canada network identified five key recommendations to help inform the Government in developing a National TB Elimination Strategy, including:

The 1/4/6x24 campaign

Tuberculosis is one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, but has long been neglected by governments, funders and global health actors. For more than a half century, we’ve been fighting TB with the same outdated resources, strategies and long, toxic courses of treatment that left patients with lasting side effects.

Thanks to decades of investment in scientific research, we now have newer, safer, and more effective regimens – but very few people around the world have access to them. The 1/4/6×24 Campaign aims to change that. The Campaign’s name comes from its central demand: that countries and other duty bearers take action to implement the shortest available regimens – one month or once-weekly for TB prevention, four months for drug-sensitive TB, and six months for drug-resistant TB — by the end of 2024.

The 1/4/6×24 Campaign draws inspiration from the legacy of the late Partners in Health (PIH) co-founder Dr. Paul Farmer, who stressed the so-called “five S’s” that countries must have in place to deliver equitable care to the poorest people: stuff, staff, space, systems and support. The 1/4/6×24 serves as a collective demand to build the momentum we need to course correct the global fight to end TB.

Following the publication of the Canadian Thoracic Society TB Standards 8th edition earlier this year, the Stop TB Canada network identified five key recommendations to help inform the Government in developing a National TB Elimination Strategy, including the critical need for Canada to improve access to essential medicines for TB treatment - notably rifapentine.

Rifapentine is widely recognized for the role it plays in TB prevention, as it is listed on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines and recommended as a preferred treatment option in the latest edition of the Canadian TB Standards. Despite the drug being recognized in national and international guidelines, Canadians continue to be denied full use of this valuable tool.

Help us increase the political will to end TB in Canada by asking your Member of Parliament for their support. See the instructions below for how you can take action.

People affected by TB deserve the right to access essential medicines.

Take action

1. Email your Member of Parliament

Tell your Member of Parliament that you care about eliminating TB in Canada and they should too.

2. Take to social media

Increase public awareness for this issue by posting on social media. Use the pre-drafted tweet below or craft your own message on the social media platform that you prefer.

Add your voice to our call for Canada to implement a National Tuberculosis Elimination Strategy by taking at least one of the simple actions listed below: