Corporate TB pledge: Strategic corporate engagement initiative towards India's end TB efforts

Ending tuberculosis (TB) requires sustained multisectoral action, as emphasized in the WHO Multisectoral Accountability Framework and India's National Strategic Plan for TB Elimination. India's corporate sector, with its extensive workforce, resources, and community reach, has significant potential to contribute to TB elimination. However, the absence of a structured and scalable engagement mechanism has limited consistent corporate participation.

The Corporate TB Pledge (CTP) was developed as a structured engagement framework to mobilize and channel corporate sector contributions toward India's End TB efforts. Coordinated through a dedicated secretariat, the initiative engaged corporates through government-led advocacy, direct outreach, business associations, and peer-led corporate engagement. Participating corporates committed to tiered levels of engagement: Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond; ranging from workplace policy endorsement to implementation of TB-specific projects and mobilization of other corporates. The secretariat provided technical assistance to design, implement, monitor, and document workplace and community-level TB interventions aligned with the National TB Elimination Program (NTEP).

Between 2020 and 2024, 461 corporates across diverse sectors took the pledge, initiating 202 TB-related interventions, including 65 TB-Free Workplace initiatives and 137 community-based projects. Collectively, these interventions screened over 5 million individuals for TB, tested 238,010 individuals, diagnosed 8910 people with TB, and linked them to care. Additionally, 52,570 individuals with TB received nutritional support through corporate contributions. The total estimated value of corporate investments, including financial and in-kind contributions, was USD 7.5 million.

The Corporate TB Pledge demonstrates that a structured, pledge-based engagement mechanism can effectively mobilize corporate accountability, resources, and innovation to complement public sector TB elimination efforts. This model shows promise for scalability, sustainability, and replication to support multisectoral action for TB and other public health priorities.