The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is pleased to announce a five-year, $300 million award, the TB Implementation Framework Agreement (TIFA), to improve the prevention, detection, and treatment of tuberculosis (TB). The lead partner in the cooperative agreement for the TIFA effort is John Snow, Inc., Research and Training Institute.

A key component of the TB Accelerator initiative USAID Administrator Mark Green announced at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) High-Level Meeting (HLM) on TB in September of 2018, the TIFA will work to increase local ownership, financing, and accountability by creating partnerships with host-government entities in 24 USAID TB priority countries to empower them to implement locally generated, context-specific solutions.

The TIFA will contribute to the Journey to Self-Reliance by strengthening the ability of governments and civil society to reach the TB targets set by the UNGA HLM on TB. Financial support to government entities will depend on quantifiable milestones and targets designed to incentivize and strengthen the accountability of national TB programs, while simultaneously increasing domestic investment in the fight to eliminate the disease.

To accelerate the pathway toward the day when foreign assistance for TB is no longer necessary, the TIFA has three primary objectives:

• Making catalytic financial and technical investments in national TB programs and local government entities to implement effective National TB Strategic Plans, including by embedding TB experts in these institutions;
• Empowering local government entities to become more self-reliant; and
• Leveraging and advocating for additional domestic resources for TB from both the public and private sectors.