Tuberculosis remains one of the leaders of mortality causes worldwide, despite the fact that the disease is successfully treatable. Post-Soviet countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia are on the list of high-priority countries for TB control. Exploring other existing networks around TB, we see that they tend to unite the key stakeholder groups among each other - researchers, the civil society or the policy makers with the researchers' network focusing more on medical research and social research around the TB epidemic being not well represented.

The GCRF Tuberculosis Social Research and Policy Network is a unique multidisciplinary network of social scientists (economists, public health researchers, sociologists, epidemiologists, psychologists, criminologists), civil society activists and policy makers, which provides a platform for ongoing knowledge exchange not only within the groups of stakeholders but across enabling effective adoption of what works best in fighting TB epidemic. This exchange will enable the use of existing research to inform current development of policies and interventions, while establishing a policy-relevant research agenda for the future and reliable venues for dissemination of the results.

The aim of the network is to facilitate the generation of evidence to inform public health policies to reduce the tuberculosis burden in post-Soviet countries and promote ongoing knowledge exchange among all stakeholders.