Last year, my husband and I decided to organize our charitable giving. Instead of making haphazard choices all along, we now give a set percentage of our income at the end of every year. Any smaller donations through the year don’t count toward that amount. That means that I can give to my friends’ pet causes without guilt or doing tons of research – it doesn’t take away from the real charitable giving.
This year, we’re giving to fight drug resistant tuberculosis. I think it’s one of the biggest threats to global health, and we’re really at a point now where investment can avert a disaster. We haven’t chosen our recipient yet; we’re just starting our research and I could use some help. Here’s who we’re looking at:
Partners in Health was one of the first organizations to recognize the threat of MDR TB and look for ways to stop it. Giving to them would be support for patient care.
PATH is doing a whole range of anti-TB activities, and I like their focus on health systems and service integration.
The Stop TB partnership is the big global group that provides grants, works on policy, and does advocacy work on TB issues. It’s closely connected to the WHO. Giving to them would address everything at once, but we’d also be funding (admittedly possibly important) bureaucracy.
MSF – Doctors without Borders – was also quick to recognize the threat of MDR TB, and they ran some of the first MDR TB programs in the former USSR. They explicitly don’t do development work, though, and I worry about how that philosophy fits with the need to integrate TB care into overall health services.
The TB Alliance supports science and research for better TB care and treatment. So giving to them would help stop TB at its source. On the other hand, they seem to be pretty well funded already.
We could chose a small NGO project on TB from Global Giving, and totally make their day.
Finally, we could go one level up and give to the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics. They support research and policy on antibiotics in general, not just for TB.
I’m starting my research now – everything I outlined in this old blog post, plus talking to TB experts I know and people who work for the NGOs I’ve mentioned. I tell everyone that the commenters on this blog are way smarter than me, though, and I’d love your input. Who should we give to? Why? Am I missing any good organizations? Would you argue for something other than TB?
I work for one of the organizations mentioned on TB, and am familiar with all of these groups! You’ve picked out the main movers in TB. Given how complicated the disease situation is, as well as my conflict of interest, I’m not going to comment on the large orgs. If you’re looking at smaller NGOs, though, consider the organizations funded by TB Reach (Waves 1-3 are the funding rounds). These groups have met certain administrative and financial standards and have M&E standards in place. (TB Reach is funded by CIDA through the Stop TB Partnership.) The focus of each wave differs; Waves 2 and 3 have a particular emphasis on GeneXpert, which is a point-of-care diagnostic for MDR-TB.
My favorite TB programs – at least conceptually – offer the patient and provider incentives for compliance (http://www.cgdev.org/files/13544_file_TB_final.pdf). However, I’m not sure which potential recipients are most active on this front, and all of the organizations you mention have great reputations. I’ll be interested to hear which you choose and why!
Thanks for raising the profile of the need to fight TB, especially MDR TB. Great if you can encourage more funding to vanquish this disease. Let’s keep in mind, though, the challenges. As the Lancet points out: “It is time to re-examine the current tuberculosis control approach. The status quo is unacceptable.” (http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2812%2961772-3/fulltext
As for MSF, I think you’re right to imply that we choose to emphasize treating patients now over building the systems of the future. But our engagement with people with TB makes it very clear that new systems — new approaches, practices, policies, diagnostic tools and drugs — all need to be developed and implemented. Our work with TB leaves MSF knee-deep in those many directions. For TB, I would not like to frame MSF’s response within an outdated emergency vs development dichotomy.
Marc DuBois
Executive Director
MSF-UK
Agree with the other commenters that you\’ve compiled a great list already. A couple others your might want to consider and thoughts.
1) The Global Fund to Fight HIV, TB & Malaria is a critical provider of TB treatment including for MDR TB around the world. More info here: http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/events/2012_World_TB_Day/.
2) One of the key ways we are going to get ahead of MDR is by having better tools. The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development is gearing up for a huge year next year. There will hopefully be exciting trial results late in the year giving hope for new novel drug regimens critical for treating drug sensitive TB. Hopefully shorter, less toxic regimens will increase treatment completion and prevent MDR TB. When the science is so promising it would be devastating to have a lack of funds hold it back. Side note: exciting news from the FDA that they approved the first new TB drug in 40 years today. http://www.tballiance.org/newscenter/view-brief.php?id=1057
3) Our best weapon against TB would be a vaccine. Aeras is working to develop. They should have new trial results to share on the most developed candidate by the end of Q1 2013. http://www.aeras.org
Marc – Thanks for your insight into MSF’s approach. That does affect how I think about this. I hadn’t seen the Lancet article, and I am glad it’s there. It’s becoming clear that global implementation of DOTS isn’t working, and we need to do something fast.
Erika – it had honestly not occurred to me that GFATM takes private donations! Thanks also for the mention of Aeras, who I hadn’t heard of.
What a great (and overlooked) cause to give to!
One of the best and most effective organizations that works to fight MDR-TB is the ICN (International Council of Nurses). I know some of these women who work in Tomsk, Russia, where TB and MDR-TB are largely ignored. The nurses across the globe are the ones that provide a big chunk of patient care and are often underfunded. Besides Russia, the ICN is active in many parts of Africa as well. The Tomsk ICN group used to be on Global Giving, but I don’t see them there now.
(Also, while Eli Lilly is a private company, they have been running a wonderful program called the MDR-TB Partnership for over 5 years now. It’s worth looking into to see which NGOs are their partners and may need funding.)
Any smaller donations through the year don’t count toward that amount. That means that I can give to my friends’ pet causes without guilt or doing tons of research – it doesn’t take away from the real charitable giving.
Oh, I like this – I’ve been doing a set amount but subtracting the impulse gives. Your way makes much more sense. And I will trust you and your research and your understanding of these things blindly and commit 25% of my 2013 giving to whatever TB group(s) you determine are best.
My love to you and the kids.
My favorite innovation in TB detection comes from APOPO where they trained Hero Rats to detect TB. Saving time, transport, and damage to samples, they are able to better identify people who might need treatment in the field, helping those infected get treatment more promptly. The rats were originally trained to detect landmines (clearing and returning lands to safe and productive use), when the founder of APOPO realized rats might also be able to smell tar in TB samples! You can read more about them here http://www.apopo.org/en/tuberculosis-detection/about and adopt a HERO Rat here: http://donate.apopo.org/adoptarat.php?lang=en
I’m late to this but wanted to give a shout-out to Speranta Terrei in Moldova.
Here’s their Global Giving page:
http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/community-support-150-tuberculosis-patients-in-moldova/
they work with those who receive the very least help in Moldova. I encourage you to check them out. I don’t work with them but have a good friend who is on their board. Would be happy to connect you to her if you have any further questions about them.
Hey Alanna, who did you decide on? Doing my year-end giving in the next 2 days, promised 25% would go to the org you identified. Feel free to email.