TB and COVID - Public and private health sectors adapt to a new reality.

ABSTRACT

Health systems across the world have been baffled by the COVID19 pandemic. Tuberculosis (TB) care and prevention especially in high burden countries has faced disruption to their routine services. Though these setbacks were predicted by many modelling studies, reports and surveys from the field convey the hard reality faced by the TB services. However, health systems have not given up and have become resilient by adapting interesting strategies to overcome these obstacles. The private health sector has also stepped up to the occasion by supporting national TB programs through innovative approaches. The scientific community has laid down several evidence-based recommendations to help TB programs get back on track. Its time to unite these forces to not just overcome the challenge posed by the pandemic but also to build a more resilient health system.