Tuberculosis is a major infectious diseases killer globally with 1.8 million deaths estimated in 2014.The Asia-Pacific region makes up most of the burden of TB, has several hotspots of very high incidence of tuberculosis, and rising drug resistance making it a major focus in the battle for TB elimination. Modelling of both transmission dynamics and health economics is essential to guide programs to decide on optimal intervention strategies.
The work we are doing involves developing models of tuberculosis appropriate for the Asia-Pacific region, collecting best evidence for intervention effectiveness and parameterising models to develop hybrid health economic and disease transmission models. This work is taking place alongside donors and countries to assist in developing tuberculosis programs.