History
The history of TBpeople begins in July 2016, from the regional workshop on mobilization of the community of people with experience of tuberculosis (TB). During this workshop, participants who included TB survivors from across Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) – decided to create a regional network of people with experience of TB. They formed the interim coordinating group, consisting of four people, selected a name – TBpeople – and formulated the vision and the mission of the network.
Thanks to the passion of its members and with the support of friends and partners of the network TBpeople grew rapidly. In 2017, after the second regional meeting, it was officially registered in Georgia. At that moment, the network has grown beyond EECA region and covered Eurasia, and in addition to Russian, English became the second working language.
In early 2018, with the first African member joining the network, TBpeople has become the first global network of people affected by TB. In May 2018, it was registered as a global network in the United Kingdom, and the Georgian entity was transformed into a country chapter.
As the global network kept on growing, it was decided to register TBpeople in United Kingdom; it was officially launched during the International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam. The network in Georgia was turned into a national network simultaneously serving as a regional hub. In 2019-2021, it has been acting a sub-recipient of two multi-country grants of the Global Fund – on TB and HIV.
In March 2019, TBpeople held a strategic planning meeting in Istanbul, resulting in the development of network’s 2019-2022 Strategy. Guided by its Strategy, TBpeople continues its growth and development and, with the support of its partners, it is implementing various projects related to communities, rights and gender.