Donors commit $500,000 to target global tuberculosis burden

A $500,000 gift to establish the Beat TB Fund at Harvard Medical School is powering a bold new effort to reduce the global burden of tuberculosis (TB) and its long-term consequences. This current-use fund will support research led by Carole Mitnick, SM ’96, ScD ’01, a professor of global health and social medicine in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School. 

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For the two donors, who choose to remain anonymous, this fund reflects their deep commitment to alleviating suffering in the world and promoting justice and equity. They have spent years learning from leaders at Partners In Health and witnessing firsthand the toll of TB in high‑burden settings. “Over the last few years, we’ve had the chance to visit multiple places where TB, almost non-existent in our worlds, is causing untold and unnecessary suffering and death,” they say. “And we’ve come to understand how clearly this need not be so.”

Conversations with Mitnick—especially during a recent visit to Peru—helped crystallize the donors’ focus on post‑TB lung disease, an area that has received relatively little attention despite accounting for a large share of the overall burden of TB.

“We are at a pivotal moment in TB and post-TB lung disease,” Mitnick says. New tools have made TB easier to diagnose and treat, yet millions still fall ill each year, and many survivors are left with chronic respiratory problems. 

“The Beat TB Fund allows us to continue to improve TB diagnosis, prevention, and care, especially for those who are most often neglected,” she says. “It also permits a better understanding of the type and extent of chronic conditions experienced and the profiles of people who experience them in diverse geographic settings. Incorporating these learnings into the full cascade of TB prevention, curative care, and rehabilitation holds tremendous potential for reducing the human toll of TB.”

Looking ahead, the donors are clear about their long-term goal: “Ultimately, we hope to see TB eradicated. The Beat TB Fund is one piece, one step we can help with.”

HMS global health professor Carole Mitnick says recent work has revealed the crushing burden of post-TB lung disease among people ostensibly cured of tuberculosis: It is estimated that 93 million people—or 60% of TB survivors—suffer from chronic respiratory problems.