In June 2006, the Global TB Programme (GTB) in the World Health Organization (WHO) established a Global Task Force on TB Impact Measurement, with the TB monitoring, evaluation and strategic information (TME) unit in GTB acting as the secretariat.

The initial aim of the Task Force was to ensure that WHO’s assessment of whether the 2015 global TB targets were achieved was rigorous, robust and consensus-based. These targets were part of the WHO Stop TB Strategy (2006–2015) and the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (2000–2015) and were for reductions in TB incidence, TB prevalence and TB mortality. Following a Task Force meeting in March 2015, WHO’s assessment was published in the 2015 Global TB Report.

In April 2016, the Task Force reviewed and updated its mission and strategic areas of work. The focus is now on measurement of progress towards the TB milestones and targets set in the WHO End TB Strategy (2016–2035) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (2016–2030). These milestones and targets are for reductions in TB incidence, the number of TB deaths, and costs faced by TB patients and their households, between 2015 and 2035.

Strategic areas of work include:

• strengthening routine surveillance of TB incidence and mortality via national disease notification and vital registration systems;

• priority studies to periodically measure TB disease burden (e.g. national TB prevalence surveys and national surveys of costs faced by TB patients and their households);

• periodic review of methods used by WHO to produce estimates of TB disease burden and;

• analysis and use of TB surveillance and survey data for policy, planning, and programmatic action.

The Task Force includes a wide range of experts in TB epidemiology, statistics and modelling, representatives from major technical and financial partners and representatives from countries with a high burden of TB. There have been seven full Task Force meetings (covering all strategic areas of work) since its inception and many other meetings and workshops of Task Force subgroups on specific topics. The next meeting of the Task Force will be in May 2024.

A brochure (May 2023 edition) that provides an overview of the Task Force’s work (published annually) is provided here.

The report of the most recent Task Force meeting related to WHO methods used to estimate TB disease burden, held in May 2022, is available here. Meetings of the Task Force’s subgroup related to national TB prevalence surveys, which focused on the development and review of a third edition of WHO guidance on national TB prevalence surveys, were held in September 2022 and June 2023.

The most recent publications related to work done under the umbrella of the Task Force are:

• the 6th edition of the guidance (available in English and French) for the surveillance of drug resistance in tuberculosis;

• a book that provides a global synthesis of results and lessons learned from national TB prevalence surveys implemented 2007–2016;

• guidance on the diagnostic algorithms to be used in national TB prevalence surveys implemented from 2023 onwards;

• a book that provides comprehensive documentation about national surveys of costs faced by TB patients and their households that were completed between 2015 and 2021.

Updated WHO guidance on TB surveillance and national TB prevalence surveys will be published in the first half of 2024.