Gwen Darien is Executive Vice President for Patient Advocacy and Engagement, at the National Patient Advocate Foundation (https://www.npaf.org/), an organization with a mission of bringing patient voices to health system delivery reform, developing and driving initiatives promoting equitable access to affordable quality health care, and prioritizing the patient voice in health system delivery reform to achieve person-centered care. She is also Executive Vice President at their sister organization, Patient Advocate Foundation (https://www.patientadvocate.org/), a national non-profit organization which provides case management services and financial aid to Americans with chronic, life threatening and debilitating illnesses. Gwen is a longtime patient advocate who has played leadership roles in some of the country’s preeminent nonprofit organizations. As a three-time cancer survivor herself, Gwen came into cancer advocacy expressly to change the experiences and outcomes for the patients who came after her and to change the public dialogue about cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. In 2005, Gwen started the first stand-alone advocacy entity in a professional cancer research organization, at the American Association for Cancer Research, launching CR magazine – a magazine for people with cancer and those who care for them. Later, she served as the executive director of the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation; director of The Pathways Project; and executive vice president of programs and services at the Cancer Support Community, where in each role, Gwen championed placing patients at the center of health system change, whether it was for research, public policy or direct services. While serving as the chair or on the board of a wide range of program committees and workshop faculties, including the Community Engagement in Genomics Working Group of the National Human Genome Research Institute; a member of the US Pharmacopeia Board of Trustees; and as the past chair of PCORI’s Patient Engagement Advisory Panel, Gwen also continues to write about her experiences. Her most recent piece, Transformation: My Experience as a Patient and an Advocate in Three Chapters appeared in the National Academy of Medicine Perspectives (https://nam.edu/transformation-my-experience-as-a-patient-and-an-advocate-in-three-chapters/). ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfZ7WDuOE0o

Dr Lucica Ditiu MD is Executive Director of the Stop TB Partnership, a Partnership whose activities focus chiefly on raising awareness about Tuberculosis (TB) and advocating for greater commitment to and funding for TB prevention, treatment and research. Its 2,000 partner organizations include international, non-governmental and governmental organizations and patient groups. The secretariat is based in Geneva, Switzerland and is administered by The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is an operational arm of the United Nations. Dr. Ditiu is a physician and public health expert who has devoted her career to helping and supporting people affected by TB, especially those most vulnerable, most stigmatized and living in impoverished communities. Dr. Ditiu is a specialist in lung diseases and began practicing medicine in 1992 in Romania. She started her international career with the WHO in January 2000 as a medical officer for TB in Albania, Kosovo and FYR Macedonia within the disaster and preparedness unit. She has worked for the past 18 years in the WHO and UN system at every level: national, sub-regional, regional and global. Dr. Ditiu has led the Stop TB Partnership for the last 8 years. Under her leadership, the organization has gained a clear identity and evolved into a lean, innovative and progressive team that represents one of the most influential advocacy voices on global health and tuberculosis, providing support - financial as well as TB medicines and diagnostics – for a TB response towards a world without TB. Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections do not have symptoms, in which case it is known as latent tuberculosis. About 10% of latent infections progress to active disease which, if left untreated, kills about half of those affected. TB is one of the top 10 causes of death and the leading cause from a single infectious agent (above HIV/AIDS). As of 2018 one-quarter of the world's population is thought to be infected with TB. New infections occur in about 1% of the population each year. In 2017, there were more than 10 million cases of active TB which resulted in 1.6 million deaths. More than 95% of deaths occurred in developing countries, and more than 50% in India, China, Indonesia, Pakistan, and the Philippines. Tuberculosis prevention and control efforts rely primarily on the vaccination of infants and the detection and appropriate treatment of active cases, which involves combinations of several antibiotics to reduce the risk of the bacteria developing antibiotic resistance. The main vaccine is Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG). In children it decreases the risk of getting the infection by 20% and the risk of infection turning into active disease by nearly 60%. BCG is the most widely used vaccine worldwide, with more than 90% of all children being vaccinated. The immunity it induces decreases after about ten years. A number of vaccines are in development. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared TB a "global health emergency" ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0BbiiO0qZA