Finding hard-to-reach tuberculosis patients has been a skill that some organizations in Pakistan — which has one of the highest TB burdens in the world — have been working to perfect.
When a TB patient is detected too late, it often means grappling with a more severe case that has already spread throughout the community. This makes active case finding — health workers seeking out people with tuberculosis as opposed to waiting for people to show up at a clinic with symptoms — an effective way to manage the disease in the worst-hit places.
Organizations in the Stop TB Partnership's TB REACH initiative have been experimenting with different ways on how to do this more effectively. That includes bringing portable X-ray machines to coal mines and brick kilns to screen the workers who are at heightened risk.
About the author
Sara Jervingsarajerving
Sara Jerving is a Senior Reporter at Devex, where she covers global health. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, VICE News, and Bloomberg News among others. Sara holds a master's degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she was a Lorana Sullivan fellow. She was a finalist for One World Media's Digital Media Award in 2021; a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists in 2018; and she was part of a VICE News Tonight on HBO team that received an Emmy nomination in 2018. She received the Philip Greer Memorial Award from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2014.
