Month: November 2025

The Union World Conference on Lung Health 2025 brought together more than 4,000 participants from over 100 countries at the Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark. This global event reaffirmed the indispensable role of TB-affected communities and civil society in shaping health responses and accelerating progress toward ending TB.

Community Leadership in Action

Throughout the week, community leaders and advocates drove discussions on stigma reduction, mental health, gender equity, and sustainable funding. Among the prominent voices:

• Olya Klymenko (TBpeopleUkraine, TBPeople) led panels on community-based TB screening and global funding accountability.

• Aman Shukla (Younite Global) energized sessions on advocacy for nutrition in pediatric TB care and campaign development.

• Oxana Rucsineanu (Societatea Moldovei împotriva Tuberculozei – SMIT) championed safe spaces for sharing TB experiences and community engagement in TB trials.

• James Malar and Lucica Ditiu (Stop TB Partnership) emphasized strategic funding and civil society empowerment.

• Rhea Lobo (Stop TB Partnership Community Delegation) inspired advocacy dialogues and storytelling initiatives.

Celebrating Community Champions

A major highlight was the Stop TB Partnership Community Award Ceremony, attended by Her Excellency Dr. Claudiana Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, First Lady of Lagos State, and #1 New York Times bestselling author John Green.

The award honored Ani Herna Sari, Chairperson of TB People Indonesia, and Mrs. Deborah Ikeh, Executive Director of Debriche Health Development Centre (Nigeria), for their outstanding contributions to advocacy and leadership.

This year’s award theme, “Keeping the Lights On and Providing Critical TB Services to People with TB,” recognized extraordinary resilience in maintaining essential TB services despite global challenges. In its sixth year, the award attracted 75 submissions from community and survivor-led groups across high TB-burden countries, with a total prize amount of USD 55,000.

Art and Symbolism

The conference featured powerful artistic expressions amplifying community voices:

• “Empty Space” – a symbolic installation visualizing the absence of communities in decision-making.

• Children’s drawings – “How TB Looks Through the Eyes of a Child”, offering a poignant perspective on TB’s impact.

• “Shared Visions” – an art exhibition by Paulina Siniatkina (TBPeople) blending creativity and activism to inspire change.

Key Themes and Takeaways

Sessions explored stigma reduction, mental health, gender equity, and sustainable funding. Panels addressed global political and financial shifts, while workshops strengthened community roles in research and policy-making. Creative engagements, including films and storytelling, reinforced the message: “Nothing about us without us.”

The UNION conference reaffirmed that communities are not just participants—they are architects of solutions to end TB.

We were proud to present ‘Hospitality – Selected Works’, an exhibition by artist and TB survivor Paulina Siniatkina, at the Union World Conference on Lung Health 2025. This powerful project transforms hospital spaces and medical tools into symbols of resilience and hope, challenging stigma and inspiring dialogue.

Highlights of the Exhibition

• See Through the Scars – Mixed media artworks turning TB X-rays into stories of healing and strength.

• The House of Rays – An installation built from lung X-rays collected during TB REACH missions, creating a symbolic home that reminds us: care begins with visibility and shared humanity.

This was more than an art display — it was a call to action to de-stigmatize TB and empower communities.

About Paulina Siniatkina

Paulina Siniatkina is a member of TB people,  contemporary artist and TB survivor whose work explores the intersection of health, identity, and social justice. Through her art, Paulina transforms personal experience into collective advocacy, using creativity to fight stigma and amplify the voices of people affected by TB. Her projects have been exhibited internationally and recognized for their unique blend of activism and aesthetics.

Paulina’s Reflections

“It’s been a very important step for the project Hospitality to share its preview with the global TB community at the Union World Conference — including my dear family: people affected by tuberculosis, as well as doctors, professors, scientists, and researchers. It was my priority to hear feedback, reflections, and ideas from people who work directly with TB before the project moves into its next stage.”

Paulina expressed gratitude for the incredible team and strong support surrounding this journey. She announced that the full exhibition of ‘Hospitality’ will be on view at Bradwolff Projects in Amsterdam, February–March 2026.

Special thanks went to John Green for visiting the exhibition and to the organizers and supporters who made this preview possible:
Stop TB Partnership, The Federation Humana People to People, TBpeople, AFK, We Jansen Fonds, MinXray, and KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation.

The Union World Conference on Lung Health 2025 is not only about discussions, but also about political decisions. That is why an accompanying event at the Danish Parliament in Copenhagen, ‘Access to TB medicines in Europe – from political will to action,’ became an important part of the conference.

The main goal of the event was to talk not only about political will, but also about real actions to overcome systemic barriers to access to tuberculosis treatment in Europe.

One of the opening speeches at the event was a personal testimony from someone who had gone through tuberculosis. That is why the voice of Olya Klymenko, Development Director at TBPeopleUkraine, was heard in the Danish Parliament. Today, she defends the right of every person to access treatment, support and protection without fear and stigma.

She spoke from the perspective of someone for whom tuberculosis is not an abstract statistic, but a point of no return in life:

“This was not a path I chose. It began on the day I was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Like many others, I knew almost nothing about TB because we still allow ourselves to think that “it happens to someone else”.

 

In her speech, Olia talked about how she experienced humiliation, social isolation, job loss and the severe side effects of treatment. Her recovery took years — not only physically, but also psychologically, after a deep depression.

 

She spoke with particular pain about her daughter. About how her child went through this journey with her — in a system that saw a ‘TB case’ but did not see a person. This trauma, she said, has stayed with her daughter to this day. And perhaps the most frightening thing for any parent is the realisation that you cannot protect your own child, that you are powerless at that moment.

 

This theme was continued by a symbolic moment with T-shirts featuring children’s drawings. Olya thanked the participants for their solidarity on International Children’s Day and said that these drawings were created by children who had completed their treatment thanks to comprehensive support, including public support. At the same time, she stressed that today these opportunities are under threat due to political decisions — and therefore the future of other children is also at risk.

 

Olya moved from personal stories to the systemic dimension of tuberculosis. She stressed that despite advances in medicine, millions of people still do not have access to innovative treatment, and social, psychological, material, legal and political barriers turn treatment into a struggle for survival.

 

She also thanked the Danish people for their support of Ukraine, emphasising that political decisions have a very personal dimension. Despite the war, she consciously chooses to remain in Ukraine with her children every day because it is her home.

 

For our organisation, participating in such an event at the level of the national parliament of an EU country is a recognition of the voice of the TB-affected community, an opportunity to bring real-life experiences directly to policymakers, and another step towards a fair, people-centred response to tuberculosis in Europe.

 

We sincerely thank the organisers of the side event — Médecins Sans Frontières / MSF, the WHO Regional Office for Europe, AIDS-Fondet and the Danish Parliamentary Network on TB/HIV — for creating this important space for dialogue.

Special thanks to Olia Klymenko for inviting us to speak at the Danish Parliament and for the opportunity to bring the voice of the people directly to those who make decisions.

We are proud to announce that John Green, #1 New York Times bestselling author and global health advocate, has officially joined TB People as an Ambassador.

John Green is widely known for his novels such as The Fault in Our Stars, Looking for Alaska, and Turtles All the Way Down, which have touched millions of readers worldwide. Beyond his literary success, John has become a passionate voice for global health equity, using his platform to raise awareness about tuberculosis and other preventable diseases.

In his keynote address at the Union World Conference on Lung Health 2025, John shared his personal journey of learning about TB:

“In 2019… I didn’t know TB continues to be the leading infectious killer in the world, killing more than malaria, typhoid and war together.”

He emphasized the critical role of communities in the fight against TB:

“Community organisations are so essential in the treatment of TB… Fighting the disease is hard, fighting the stigma is harder.”

John’s words are a powerful reminder that advocacy, storytelling, and community voices are essential to ending TB. His commitment aligns perfectly with TB People’s mission to ensure dignity, protection, and access to care for every person affected by tuberculosis.

As an ambassador, John Green will help amplify the voices of TB survivors and communities, advocate for increased funding, and challenge stigma through global storytelling initiatives.

We are incredibly proud of Ani Herna Sari, Chairperson of TB People Indonesia, and Mrs. Deborah Ikeh, Executive Director of Debriche Health Development Centre (Nigeria), for their remarkable work and unwavering commitment to strengthening TB communities around the world in a particularly challenging year.

The Stop TB Partnership has announced the winners of the 2025 Community Award, which celebrates organizations that have shown extraordinary resilience in “Keeping the Lights On and Providing Critical TB Services to People with TB.”

Now in its sixth year, the award drew an impressive 75 submissions from community and survivor-led groups across high TB-burden countries. The total award amount of USD 55,000 was shared among the winners, co-funded by the Stop TB Partnership and Humana People to People Foundation.

The winners were honored on 18 November 2025 during the Union Conference on Lung Health. The award was presented by author John Green and Her Excellency Dr. Claudiana Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, First Lady of Lagos State.

This recognition highlights the extraordinary efforts of TB People Indonesia and Debriche Health Development Centre in continuing essential TB services—screening, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and support—despite global funding challenges and operational barriers.

Learn more about the award and its mission: Stop TB Partnership Community Award Details