Machakos, Kenya: 9th and 10th September 2025
In Machakos, Kenya, 30 TB champions from 10 high burden counties (Nairobi, Machakos, Murang’a, Mombasa, Laikipia, Turkana, Kakamega, Kajiado, Migori, and Kericho) came together for a two day community workshop organized by KELIN in partnership with the Network of TB Champions (Kenya) that converted lived experience into a powerful call for change. The workshop set out to strengthen community and civil society literacy on DR-TB and build their capacity to advocate for and access optimal services as part of the Combat DR-TB project: a Unitaid-funded, community driven initiative for transformative change in the fight against drug-resistant TB.
Survivors shared moving testimonies of the gruelling 18 to 20 months DR-TB treatment journey painful injections, hearing loss, stigma, mental distress, and the heavy toll on income and family life turning their struggles into fuel for advocacy, literacy, and action.
“We are living proof that DR-TB treatment works, but it has cost us too much. The country must move faster to give others shorter, all oral, safer treatment so no one suffers like we did.”: Nadia Chepkemboi (DRTB Survivor).
Rather than stop at sharing their pain, participants worked together to design simple, community driven messages to encourage early testing and treatment adherence, debunk myths and misconceptions fueling stigma, and strengthen community led monitoring and referral networks. They also developed county level advocacy plans to drive demand for the rollout of shorter, all oral regimens and wider access to modern diagnostic tools that can detect DR-TB earlier and prevent loss to follow up.
The workshop closed with a powerful united demand: make shorter, all-oral regimens available in every county, ensure rapid access to modern diagnostics, and end delays between testing and treatment. The community pledged to be the voice of accountability because the fight against DR-TB is theirs too.
For more information, please contact:
Ibrahim Kimani
Programme Officer: HIV/TB
Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV & AIDS (KELIN)
Kuwinda Lane, Karen C, off Langáta Road
Email: wainainakimani@kelinkenya.org
