Tondo, Manila

The Philippines

John Green, Novelist and philanthropist

We need to invest in every part of the tuberculosis care pipeline, from active case finding to making sure that drugs are available to people when they need them and getting them on treatment quickly.

John Green is an award-winning writer, TB advocate, and author of the book "Everything Is Tuberculosis".

His main argument: TB continues to kill mainly by human choice



Our healthcare systems are not best judged by how the wealthiest and most privileged among us are doing, but how the most vulnerable among us are doing.

Tuberculosis is often, not exclusively, but often a disease of the vulnerable.



Since 2022, MSF has been involved

in the fight against TB

in the slums of Tondo, Manila



This morning we've been travelling with Doctors Without Borders (MSF), to learn about tuberculosis care here in the Tondo [district] of the Philippines.

Well, it was certainly very moving to be with a young man just after he learned that he had a tuberculosis diagnosis.

But at the same time, we know that this disease is curable, and he can be okay.

So, it was very impressive to me to see his support network at MSF reach nout to him and let him know that he can be okay, that his family members need to get screened for TB.

And to know that this is a family that can recover from this diagnosis and that this young man will go on to live a long and normal life.

Tuberculosis is the world's deadliest

infectious disease,

more than 1.3 million people

die from it each year



The challenges are absolutely overwhelming. I don't want to minimize the challenges, but I am also so encouraged to see people doing this important work together and to see MSF especially stepping up and working so hard in this community.

I care about many diseases, not just tuberculosis. But I am obsessed with tuberculosis because I think it is a barometer for how the overall healthcare system is doing.