Tuberculosis is the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent and remains a global health emergency. In 2018 alone, there were 1.5 million deaths and 10 million new cases globally, among whom half a million had rifampicin resistant TB. The annual rate of decline in TB incidence is still much lower than what would be needed to end the TB epidemic by 2030.

It is critical to identify and overcome barriers to effective implementation of existing strategies and tools, which, if adequately employed, would drastically reduce the TB burden. Implementation research on best strategies for early diagnosis, treatment and prevention of TB, optimized and tailored to various socioeconomic contexts and responsive to local conditions, would help accelerate the decline in TB incidence rates globally. This is particularly essential in resource-limited settings where much remains to be done to achieve universal coverage for TB care. Implementation research on effective approaches that can mobilize sustained community engagement, address social determinants of TB and strengthen political commitment remains an important area to End TB.

WHO’s End TB Strategy, endorsed by the World Health Assembly in May 2014, distinctly recognized TB research as one of its three pillars. Locally owned and conducted implementation TB research within national TB programmes are needed in countries to identify more efficient ways of using existing tools and expeditiously scaling up new tools to End TB.

TDR aims to contribute to the End TB effort by conducting and enhancing capacity for implementation research at national, regional and global levels.