Maternal and Child Health

A Family Disease

Tuberculosis is a scourge of families. It is a top-five killer of women in their reproductive years and a major killer of the young. It is a disease that can be passed along by a cough or a sneeze, and in the close quarters that families often live, one sick person puts many at risk. In addition to the major economic burden TB places on families, it is destabilizing communities and countries. In 2010, about 10 million children were orphaned after their parents died of TB.

Maternal & Child Health

Tuberculosis strikes at women, often during pregnancy, escalating health risks that are too often overlooked. TB in mothers increases the risk that babies will die by six times, and doubles the risk of their being born prematurely or with low birth weight. The disease also causes 6 to 15 percent of all maternal mortality.

HIV/AIDS infections further complicate these pregnancies. TB in pregnant women living with HIV increases the risk of maternal and infant mortality by almost 300 percent. And in Africa, TB rates are up to 10 times higher in pregnant women living with HIV than in pregnant women without HIV infection.

Gender & TB Drug Development

While more men have TB than women globally, stigma and discrimination in some settings can mean that women who are ill with TB are ostracized by their families and communities. Defined by the World Health Organization as socially constructed characteristics of women, men, girls, and boys, gender factors into TB Alliance’s decision-making at all stages of its R&D pipeline and project activities. Short, simple, safe, and effective TB treatments under development have the potential to mitigate financial and cultural barriers to healthcare that are exacerbated by gender roles.