Key Populations Brief: Health Care Workers

Health care workers (HCWs) are at an increased risk of acquiring tuberculosis (TB) compared to the general population. In low-resource, high-TB-burden settings, occupationally acquired TB is depleting the very workforce fighting the disease on the frontline. Failures in health systems, occupational health (OH) services and TB infection control (TBIC), staffing shortages, supply issues, lack of funding, and lack of supervision, are putting the lives of HCWs, their families, and those they are tasked with caring for at risk. The fear of stigma, coupled with weak labour protections and poor confidentiality measures, often means that HCWs are afraid to disclose their health status to employers for fear of being ostracized or losing their jobs.

Where available, OH services and compensation schemes for HCWs are often poorly resourced and inefficient, leading HCWs to feel as though their TB is their problem alone. HCWs are perhaps the most valuable resource in the fight against TB. However, this is a group that has been neglected by health care systems and policy makers. More must be done to protect them, before it is too late.