After Saurabh's numerous failed treatments for TB over the course of 6 months, his doctors finally realized he’s TB-resistant. It was a long journey for him. Over time, his TB caused permanent damage to his lungs, but he never let that stop him from fighting back. Now that he’s cured, he continues to challenge himself physically to help inspire others with TB.

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Jerik had a fever for 2 weeks and water in his lungs. Once the water was removed and tested, the doctors told Jerik he had TB. He took 13 pills a day throughout the course of his treatment, plus an injection every day for the first 6 months. He remembers that time as being the most painful time of his life. His muscles were sore and he could hardly stand, let alone walk. Today, he’s looking forward to the day when TB no longer exists.

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Bilal is a young boy who lives with his 5 siblings and 2 parents in Karachi, Pakistan. Bilal is also the only sibling who understands what it means to hear the words, “You have tuberculosis.” In a desperate attempt to help Bilal and prevent TB from infecting their other 5 children, Bilal was treated with child-friendly TB medicines. Today Bilal is cured and back to playing with the people he loves most, his siblings.

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Marius's symptoms started off with a long-term cough and ended with a TB diagnosis. Due to the inconvenience of picking up his meds at a clinic every single day, he inevitably stopped treatment. Soon he started feeling tired, losing weight, and was unable to eat. After finding himself on the floor unable to move, an ambulance brought him to a hospital where they diagnosed him with extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB). The 23 pills plus a daily injection were almost unbearable. Tired of laying down just to stop from feeling dizzy, he joined a clinical trial evaluating a new TB drug regimen. In just 6 months, he was finally TB-free.

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Chelsea was only 3 years old when her grandmother noticed she was coughing, losing weight, and having trouble breathing. She was first diagnosed with pneumonia but after additional testing, it was determined she had TB. After just 2 days of receiving child-friendly TB treatment, Chelsea was already sleeping through the night. Now, Chelsea is a happy, cured, and carefree little girl.

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Melquiades is a drug-resistant TB survivor. What first felt like a cold turned into night sweats, fever, nausea, headaches, and depression. He was only 18 and was thinking he'd never see his family again. It took 2 years for him to beat TB—daily injections, hundreds of toxic drugs. He says it was damaging to his body and his soul. Melquiades believes that globally, we need to make more drugs available that can help cut recovery time. He feels that without care and human support, there's no way he would be here today. Together, we can use our voices to eliminate TB.

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Besik was first diagnosed with TB in 2004. At that time, he remembers feeling like the medicines were unbearable. So bad that he could hardly move after taking them. He ended up stopping them as soon as he found out he wasn’t contagious, but all it took was for Besik to catch a cold in 2009 for his TB to come back–and it was drug-resistant. But he joined a clinical trial testing a new regimen and he was happily surprised with the improvements in the new medicines. Now that the medications are better, Besik thinks that everyone should now receive the help and care they need to treat their TB.

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