From the Faces of TB series. Solving the world’s toughest global health problems doesn’t happen without a wide array of partnerships. But critical, and often overlooked, are the people who agree to participate in clinical trials of vaccines. They help the world understand more about the diseases we fight, how we fight them, and how we get closer to answers we need. To solutions. So many individuals, like this man, in their own ways, help move us forward, together.
What does a car wash have to do with TB vaccines? Effective, genuine community engagement is key to the success of any clinical trial. And that is certainly true for TB vaccines, where we work with some surprising stakeholders to make progress.
In a nation with as many resource challenges as there are in Malawi, cooking meals can be a very different process from what we experience in developed nations. Natural gas-fired stoves, electricity, convection ovens – forget it. Whether it’s a kitchen in a hut in the distant, rural reaches, or in a more affluent family’s house in a major city, most people are cooking over burning wood.