The History of Stop TB Canada

By Lena Faust

This blog is based on an interview conducted on 6 Jan 2022, with Drs. Anne Fanning, Menn Biagtan, and Elizabeth Rea, founders of Stop TB Canada.

Dr. Anne Fanning (left) and Dr. Menn Biagtan (right), World TB Day 2015

2021 was a big year for Stop TB Canada! We worked hard to build the network, expanding our connections with the Canadian tuberculosis (TB) community, publishing various op-eds, launching a report on the impact of COVID-19 on Canadian TB programs, and engaging policymakers in efforts to end TB through meetings with nine Members of Parliament (MPs) and members of the offices of the federal Ministers of Health and Indigenous Services. With the end of this exciting year of reinvigorating the network, the start of 2022 is an opportunity for Stop TB Canada to reflect on its origin. We recently spoke with three giants in the Canadian TB space and Stop TB Canada’s founders, Drs. Anne Fanning, Menn Biagtan, and Elizabeth Rea.

The inception of Stop TB Canada all started with Dr. Fanning, an infectious disease physician who has been working on TB since 1972, advocating tirelessly for global health and in particular for patient-centered care for Indigenous people affected by TB. From 1987 to 1995, Dr. Fanning served as Director of Tuberculosis Services for Alberta. She has also been a member of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (the Union) for over 30 years, and was its president for a term. It was at a Union meeting in September of 2000, convened to discuss how to meet the target of reducing the global TB burden by 50% by 2010, a target set earlier that year at the 26th G8 conference in Okinawa, Japan, that Dr. Fanning was asked by Dr. Don Enarson, then Scientific Director of the Union, “What are you doing to Stop TB?”. And that is how Stop TB Canada began; Dr. Fanning pulled together a meeting in Edmonton, Alberta, with 32 TB colleagues (including TB program managers, practitioners, academics, non-governmental organizations, policymakers, and civil societies) in February of 2001, to discuss how Canada could contribute to achieving the G8 target. This meeting resulted in the creation of Stop TB Canada, with its mission at the time being “to support Canada in fulfilling its G8 commitment to reduce the global burden of tuberculosis (TB) by 50 per cent by 2010, through education, communication, collaboration and advocacy.” Its launch was announced on World TB Day 2001. 

Timeline of the early days of Stop TB Canada. 

*Union=International Union Against TB and Lung Disease

Although there was no structure or funding for the network at the outset, funding was eventually secured through a then newly-founded organization, the Canadian Association for the Elimination of TB (CAETB). The main network activities at the time were to meet once a year and to hold events on World TB Day. To engage more directly with Canadian TB stakeholders, Dr. Biagtan, who is now Vice President of the BC Lung Association, suggested in 2005 to integrate Stop TB Canada meetings into the North America Region (NAR) Union annual conference, the first of which had been organized by Dr. Fanning, in 1997.

In 2014, Dr. Elizabeth Rea took over as chair of Stop TB Canada. Dr. Rea is an infectious disease physician who has served as Associate Medical Officer of Health within Toronto Public Health’s TB Program since 2005. Throughout her work in TB, she has advocated strongly for patient-centered care and the need to address TB stigma. Under Dr. Rea, Stop TB Canada became associated with Results Canada, strengthening ties in the Canadian advocacy space. In 2019, Results Canada offered to dedicate considerable staff time and resources towards reinvigorating Stop TB Canada. The network has since grown, with key developments and activities highlighted in our 2020-2021 annual report.

When asked what Stop TB Canada’s goals were at the time of its founding, Dr. Fanning contrasted efforts to end TB, which were lacking in momentum, to the highly effective and creative advocacy strategies used in the fight against HIV, and that it was clear that something needed to be done to get TB elimination on the agenda. So Stop TB Canada’s purpose was clear: “To make people aware of TB as a global issue as well as a national issue, and make it an issue that should be addressed”, says Dr. Fanning.

But with so many actors involved in TB elimination in Canada, be it researchers, policymakers, or organisations, it is important not to lose sight of Stop TB Canada’s specific role. Drs. Fanning, Biagtan and Rea were all of one mind when asked what that role is and should continue to be: Advocacy. “And, in fact, it works,” says Dr. Fanning, speaking of advocacy. “It works to have people who aren’t caught up in their bench science or their clinical work or their lecturing, who realize the importance of getting a message out and know the tools for getting that message out.” She emphasizes “there is a real place for [advocacy]. It takes an issue, articulates it, and gets it out to the public so it can be supported.” Dr. Biagtan also stressed the importance of Stop TB Canada in providing a platform for the public health community in Canada to focus specifically on TB and TB-related policy issues, filling gaps that are not addressed by other organizations, such as NAR.

Lastly, given the outstanding contributions to end TB efforts that our founders have made, we jumped on the opportunity to ask them what they see as key priorities for Stop TB Canada for the new year, particularly in light of COVID-19-related setbacks in the fight against TB. Both Dr. Biagtan and Dr. Fanning underlined that a priority for the re-invigorated Stop TB Canada network should be stronger engagement with high-level health policymakers who have played exemplary roles in the fight against COVID-19; harnessing this momentum for TB would be highly valuable and timely. Similarly, other foci should be the lessons learned from COVID-19, how they can be applied to TB, and how to get back on track to ending TB in the context of COVID-19. 

It is clear that strong advocacy will be crucial for winning back lost progress on TB elimination during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are privileged to have had inspiring TB physicians and advocates such as Drs. Fanning, Biagtan and Rea build Stop TB Canada from the ground up in 2001. We are looking forward to continuing the work they started as we grow the network and strengthen our advocacy for ending TB in Canada and abroad.

For more information, check out this article on Stop TB Canada written in 2004.