A new Health Policy published in The Lancet Global Health introduces the concept of the tuberculogenic environment, the structural, social, economic, and commercial conditions that sustain TB risk and transmission in vulnerable communities.

 

Co‑authored by TB‑CRE investigators Emily MacLean, Sarah Bernays, and Ben Marais, with close affiliate Mikaela Coleman as joint first and corresponding author, the paper reframes TB as a complex systems problem that requires coordinated action far beyond the health sector. 

The authors outline how factors such as housing, nutrition, air quality, employment conditions, and political decision‑making shape TB vulnerability, and argue for multi‑sector responsibility to drive meaningful, population‑level reduction in TB burden. Through global case studies and a systems‑thinking framework, the paper highlights practical upstream interventions that can strengthen resilience and shift TB control beyond purely biomedical approaches.

Read the full paper here.