Life-saving information for the world’s deadliest infectious disease
Patients do not always receive basic information about tuberculosis (TB). Studies have shown that common misconceptions and information gaps among TB patients can cause delays in diagnosis and adherence problems during treatment, as reported by Raval et al., Addo et al., Pitaloka et al., and Delaney.
Some patients are frightened, considering their diagnosis a death sentence. Others believe it can only be caught by those with HIV, or that it is a “prison disease”. Many are not told how important it is to complete their antibiotic regimen, increasing the risk of drug resistance.
“So people were really scared, I think they are now more afraid of TB than HIV.”
- South African interviewee, Addo et al.
Our initiative
In response, DEVI Sansthan and tb.care have partnered to create an informational intervention consisting of the tb.care website and complementary materials (drawn from respective government resources) delivered by experienced community health workers.
Your donations go towards:
Creating, hosting, and delivering information to TB patients
Community health worker salaries
Operational research, including pilot studies measuring how much we are helping patients
Expanding our reach into new countries where we can help many more vulnerable people with TB
Our team so far
Jon Servello, Founder
Public health researcher with a passion for the cause area of TB and an extensive background in clinical trials through companies including Novo Nordisk and ICON. He is currently a Research Fellow at the University of Milan and is working directly with UNITE4TB, where he works on the implementation of new drugs among national TB programmes and other stakeholders.
Emil Wasteson, Co-Founder
Former entrepreneur and founder of the Swedish plant-based seafood startup Hooked Foods, which he grew to 25 FTEs and raised more than $4M during the company’s two first years. He now advises talented individuals and impact organisations with organisational development, high-level strategy and impact measurement.
Cathy Delaney, Trustee
Cathy is based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh and has lived and worked in urban poor settlements in north India for about 20 years. She is currently working with MELA (Medical Entitlements Literacy Assistance), helping the poorest and most vulnerable access healthcare, government services, and literacy programmes, with a focus on reducing the burden of TB on poor communities.
