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On September 25, Yuliya Chorna, PhD candidate in Social Anthropology and SSHIFTB contributor at York University, joined the #LeadOnTB Advocacy Day on Parliament Hill in Ottawa organized by Results Canada, Partners In Health, Stop TB Canada, Médecins Sans Frontières, TBPeople Canada, TBFighters, and CAAN.
The event gathered global and Canadian advocates, health experts, and people with lived experience of Tuberculosis (TB). Participants called on Canada to step up its leadership against TB with political will and sustained investments in Budget 2025 and beyond. This urgent call is rooted in the public imagination of TB as a clear marker of social injustice. Each year, over ten million people worldwide get sick and more than a million die from this preventable and curable disease. Urging the federal government to do more to help end this deadly epidemic is more than ask for funding – it is a call for commitment to equity and global solidarity.
Canada has a proud legacy of supporting global TB efforts, including being a foundational donor of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Stop TB Partnership’s TB REACH initiative, which have helped save millions of lives around the world. At the TB Advocacy Day, civil society met with Members of Parliament and reiterated the need for sustained Canadian leadership and investment in international assistance. Key global asks included to continue an ambitious pledge to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria; increased funding for TB research and development; and
supporting community-led initiatives such as the Challenge Facility for Civil Society, for people most affected to drive the TB response.
Advocates also emphasized that Canadian leadership must extend to TB elimination efforts at home. While TB incidence in Canada is low overall, Inuit, First Nations, and newcomer communities are disproportionately affected. This vulnerability to TB reflects deep inequities in housing, access to care and other social determinants of health. Amplifying voices at the TB Advocacy Day, advocates called for Canada to establish a permanent, fully funded National TB Elimination Strategy. This strategy must be co-developed with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis partners to improve access to essential medicines and tackle the social conditions driving TB.
Group Photo credit: Finnigan Lin
