TB Alliance announces new leadership of its Stakeholders Association (SHA), an advisory group comprised of member organizations that share a clear interest and a significant stake in ensuring the development of better, faster-acting, and affordable cures for tuberculosis. Karl Hofmann, President and CEO of Population Services International (PSI), serves as the newly elected SHA President. Mayowa Joel, Program Director of Nigeria’s Communication for Development Centre, is the SHA Community Representative, and Paul Sommerfeld, Chair of Trustees for TB Alert, is Secretary.
The SHA is comprised of institutions from around the world including representatives from developing nations, government, non-governmental organizations, professional organizations, academia, foundations, and industry. The Stakeholder Association President also serves on the TB Alliance Board of Directors, ensuring the perspectives of the Stakeholders and the communities they represent reach TB Alliance at the highest levels of the organization.
“The Stakeholders Association is at the heart of the TB Alliance; these organizations represent the diverse groups that are crucial in helping us fulfill our mission,” said Dr. Mel Spigelman, President and CEO. “We are confident that the new leaders of this group will draw from their deep experiences and skills to help TB Alliance navigate through this critical junction in our history.”
“I’ve seen how today’s suboptimal TB therapies contribute to a cycle of disease and poverty in some of the least developed countries in the world,” said Mr. Hofmann. “Now with improved TB drugs on the horizon, I look forward to working with the TB Alliance through my role on the Board and in leading the SHA, to help speed the delivery of promising new regimens to those who need them most.”
Mr. Hofmann is President and CEO of PSI, the world’s largest social marketing organization and one of the global leaders delivering health care products, services, and information to people in the developing world. PSI manages programs in TB, family planning and reproductive health, HIV, malaria, maternal and child health, and non‐communicable diseases. Prior to joining PSI, Mr. Hofmann was a career diplomat for 23 years. He served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Togo, Executive Secretary of the U.S. Department of State, and Deputy Chief of Mission (senior career diplomat) at the U.S. Embassy in Paris.
Mr. Sommerfeld is the Chair of Trustees for TB Alert, a British charity whose mission is to fight TB in the United Kingdom and around the world. He has been deeply involved in global health action for 30 years – in leprosy, TB, and influenza – with a focus on advocacy and community engagement.
Mr. Joel has been a treatment advocate for more than 10 years, making the promotion of treatment access and literacy among people infected and affected by TB, HIV, and TB/HIV a key focus. Mr. Joel works with a variety of stakeholders at the community, national, regional, and global levels to ensure the voices of patients are heard and to represent the issues and viewpoints of communities directly affected by TB.
The TB Alliance would like to thank Maarten van Cleeff, outgoing SHA President, and Francis George Apina, outgoing SHA Community Representative, for their invaluable service to TB Alliance throughout their terms.