Paper short abstract

Reflection on work at the interface of Global institutions and Government in the context of South Asia, and its impact on the control of tuberculosis.

Paper long abstract

In this paper I reflect on the relationship between practice and academia in the arena of the control of tuberculosis. The control of TB involves complex assemblages of institutions - global, governmental, and local - ones that shift as international and national priorities, polices and resources change. Drawing on over twenty years experience, I meditate on the changing face of policy and practice focusing in particular on the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) and the WHO, and their relations with national TB programmes in the context of South Asia. At times anthropological truths and ideas are heard, and at other times they are ignored. Why this might be so is discussed. As such the ideas presented speak more broadly about the relation between anthropology and organisations.

In particular, the paper will analyse how this health programme represents a particular and increasingly dominant form of development practice, one where an increasing focus on financial accountability and its effects lies at the centre of an evolving programme. The movement between, on the one hand working in tuberculosis control, and on the other medical anthropological reflection allows particular insights and analysis.