Town Hall Meeting 2026: Strengthening voices

Jan 29

Written By UKAPTB

United Kingdom: 28 Jan, 2026
Yesterday, UKAPTB hosted a well-attended and highly engaging Town Hall meeting, bringing together professionals, advocates, and community members committed to strengthening the response to tuberculosis (TB) across the UK. The one-hour online session provided an open forum for participants to share priorities, challenges, and ideas for collective action in the coming year.

A Collaborative Start

The meeting opened with introductions and an overview of UKAPTB’s work and achievements over the past year. With 19 attendees present, the session quickly established a collaborative tone, encouraging honest discussion and broad participation. The primary aim was to hear directly from attendees and ensure that future UKAPTB actions are aligned with real-world needs and experiences.

Three Key Questions

The discussion was structured around three guiding questions:

What is the biggest challenge that requires political intervention?
What actions should UKAPTB prioritise over the next year?
How can UKAPTB better reflect the concerns and issues of its community?

Participants moved between full-group conversations and smaller breakout rooms, allowing for deeper dialogue and the opportunity for more voices to be heard. Feedback from each segment was then shared with the wider group to identify common themes and priorities.

Emerging Priorities

Several important focus areas emerged from the discussions:

Awareness and Media Engagement – Attendees highlighted the need to raise TB visibility in mainstream and targeted media, while also addressing stigma and improving understanding among high-risk groups.
Advocacy and Political Influence – There was strong agreement on the importance of lobbying MPs, ministers, and regional leaders to ensure proper funding of TB action plans, workforce capacity, screening, and prevention efforts.
Workforce and Resources – Concerns were raised about NHS performance pressures, staffing shortages, and the need for sustained investment across clinical and outreach services.
Access to Medicines – Ongoing issues around paediatric formulations and access to certain TB medications were noted as urgent challenges.
Social Determinants of Health – Housing instability and the dispersal of people seeking asylum without adequate communication were recognised as factors that significantly impact TB care and outcomes.

Strengthening Communication and Reach

Participants also discussed practical ways to maintain momentum and broaden engagement. Suggestions included continuing Town Hall sessions, improving publicity, sharing joining links more widely, and exploring additional formats for ongoing conversation and collaboration.

Immediate Next Steps

The meeting concluded with a set of proposed immediate actions:

Drafting a collective letter to ministers attending an upcoming TB round table, emphasising the urgency of funding TB prevention, workforce development, and action plans.
Encouraging individuals to write to their MPs, supported by a generic template letter.
Organising a media communications skills-sharing session to empower advocates and professionals to engage confidently with different media platforms ahead of World TB Day.

Looking Ahead

The Town Hall underscored the value of shared dialogue and community-led direction. By bringing diverse voices together, UKAPTB continues to build a more responsive, inclusive, and effective approach to tackling TB. The insights gathered will play a vital role in shaping advocacy, partnerships, and practical initiatives over the coming months.

As momentum builds, UKAPTB remains committed to ensuring that policy, funding, and public awareness efforts reflect the realities faced by those working on, and affected by TB every day.

Please consider signing up if you haven’t!
https://www.ukaptb.org/join-us

Thankyou all for joining. See you next time!

Look forward to;