A new WHO report emphasised the need for TB vaccines to reach high-burden countries.
It highlighted barriers to access and calls for coordinated global action to ensure timely and sustainable vaccine distribution.
The report was launched at the G20 Health Ministers’ Meeting.
A new World Health Organization (WHO) report has highlighted the urgent need for bold financing and access strategies to ensure that novel tuberculosis (TB) vaccines reach adolescents and adults in high-burden countries.
The report, Catalysing Solutions for Equitable Global Access and Sustainable Financing for Novel Tuberculosis Vaccines for Adults and Adolescents, was launched on the sidelines of the G20 Health Ministers’ Meeting in Limpopo, South Africa, on November 6, 2025.
Developed by the TB Vaccine Accelerator Council’s Finance and Access Working Group, co-convened by WHO, the Government of South Africa and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the report presented a first-of-its-kind analysis of the anticipated barriers, bottlenecks and market dynamics that could affect timely, equitable and sustainable access to new TB vaccines.
Each year, more than 10 million people fall ill with TB, mostly adolescents and adults, and over one million die from the disease, predominantly in low- and middle-income countries.
Global efforts to combat TB have saved an estimated 79 million lives since 2000. However, progress remains uneven within and across countries due to unequal access to healthcare, stigma, inadequate financing, conflicts and natural disasters.
Current TB control strategies rely largely on timely diagnosis and treatment, supported by preventive therapy and social protection measures that address the broader determinants of infection.
No new TB vaccine has been licensed in over a century, apart from the Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine. BCG provides only partial protection against severe forms of TB in infants and young children and offers limited and inconsistent protection against pulmonary TB in adolescents and adults.
In February 2025, the TB Vaccine Accelerator established the Finance and Access Working Group (F&A WG) to promote timely, equitable and sustainably financed access to affordably priced new TB vaccines for adults and adolescents.
While the vaccine pipeline is accelerating and many high-burden countries, including Brazil, Ethiopia, Indonesia, the Philippines and South Africa, are beginning to prepare for vaccine rollout, access to supply and financing remains a major concern.
Manufacturers face uncertainty over country demand and financing, with few plans in place for regional manufacturing of late-stage vaccine candidates.
The report warned that global demand for TB vaccines is likely to outpace supply in the early years, with demand projected to exceed three billion regimens between 2030 and 2040 from high-burden countries. However, supply projections indicate a shortfall in the initial years following vaccine registration, risking delayed access and reduced public health impact.
Global procurement of TB vaccines for all countries could cost between $5 billion and $8 billion during 2030-2040. This estimate excludes vaccine delivery costs and the investments required to strengthen health systems for vaccine introduction and rollout.
Currently, there is no earmarked funding for novel TB vaccines, and both countries and donors face difficult trade-offs between investing in these vaccines, other immunisation efforts, existing TB interventions and competing health priorities.
Accelerating equitable access to novel TB vaccines will require early, coordinated and transparent global action.
The report identified six priority actions to ensure sustainable and equitable access worldwide. These include:
Developing catalytic financing instruments;
Systematic and early generation of country-level evidence;
Clarifying available domestic financing commitments and external support;
Establishing a coordination platform for supply and demand stakeholders;
Sharing key information transparently; and
Advocating for licensing and technology transfer to at least one manufacturer in each high-burden region to strengthen supply security, regional ownership and vaccine acceptance.
The report concluded that the development and implementation of financing and access strategies by countries is an essential step towards ensuring equitable access to new TB vaccines once they become available.
Between 2026 and 2027, F&A WG will prioritise efforts to develop urgently needed solutions and conduct additional analyses to support them, so that they can be launched as rapidly as possible.