Colombia had an estimated population of 52.3 million in 2023. Approximately 24,000 individuals developed TB, and 2,300 people died from the disease. Despite national TB control efforts, an estimated 4,030 individuals remained undiagnosed or unreported.
In 2022, we partnered with Socios en Salud to implement CAD4TB, expanding the project in 2023. In 2024, Fundación para la Atención Integral Ancla procured a CAD4TB to strengthen TB detection and enhance diagnostic capacity. These efforts contribute to Colombia’s broader strategy to improve early TB screening and case management.
Making a difference
Webinar insights
During the 2023 webinar “TB Active Case-finding in Latin America using AI and portable X-rays,” Dra. Katherine Betancourt, a Representative of the Santander TB & Hansen Program in Colombia, shared lessons from Santander’s mobile TB screening project. Santander ranks among Colombia’s top five regions for TB burden, driving the need for early detection. The initiative deployed mobile X-ray units and CAD for TB across 11 municipalities, prioritizing prisons and vulnerable communities. Despite challenges such as equipment downtime and limited follow-up for abnormal X-rays, the program improved access to TB screening and identified critical gaps in referral pathways.
