YRGCARE and GKII Collaborate on the TB Free Schools Initiative

“When you work with schools, you’re not just reaching children—you’re reaching families and communities,” says Mr. A.K. SriKrishnan, COO of YRGCARE, highlighting the heart of the TB Free Schools Initiative (TFSI), which aims to identify, treat, and prevent tuberculosis among children aged 6–18 across Chennai, Pune, Satara, and Gorakhpur.

The Gupta-Klinsky India Institute (GKII) at Johns Hopkins University is proud to partner with YRGCARE, a public health leader with more than three decades of experience in community engagement, infectious disease care, and implementation research. As the implementing organization for TFSI, YRGCARE is helping to build a model that not only tackles TB in schools but also strengthens awareness, early detection, and long-term prevention.

The collaboration took a major step forward at the TFSI Pre-Launch Workshop in Chennai on July 3–4, 2025, where GKII and YRGCARE teams worked with national stakeholders to align on operational plans, consent processes, logistics, and staff onboarding.

In this feature, we bring you highlights from our conversation with Mr. SriKrishnan about YRGCARE’s journey, the team driving TFSI, and why school-based interventions are a vital tool in India’s fight against TB.

Can you briefly introduce YRG Care and its mission? What are your core focus areas in public health?

YRGCARE, or the Y.R. Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education, is a foundation dedicated to pioneering public health initiatives, particularly in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Founded in 1993 by PadmaShree Dr Suniti Solomon in Chennai, India, it focuses on providing comprehensive care, conducting research, and implementing prevention programs. YRGCARE’s mission is to create a healthier and more inclusive future by addressing the HIV epidemic and other infectious diseases through innovative and community-focused approaches. YRGCARE’s efforts have impacted numerous lives across India and globally, with over 200,000 individuals reached through its programs and research initiatives. The foundation’s commitment to innovation, community engagement, and evidence-based interventions has positioned it as a leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS and other public health challenges.

YRGCARE’s overarching mission is to create a healthier, more inclusive future by responding the prevention, care and research needs of the country related to HIV/AIDS. To ensure that people living with HIV/AIDS and their families live with dignity and that there are no new infections. 

For over 30 years, YRGCARE has been at the forefront of the fight against HIV/AIDS through compassionate care, innovative research, and community empowerment. With time, YRGCARE has responded to the emerging needs in HIV/AIDS research and implementation as well as bridging the gap between HIV/AIDS program and other public health challenges. Some of the major achievements in public health and HIV/AIDS are:

• Impacted over 2 lakh (200,000) lives across 900 sites in India
• Expanded its reach through service programs across 23 States by end of 2024.
• Provided compassionate care and treatment services to over 20,000 people with HIV and their families.
• Collaborated with over 70 global partners on various initiatives.
• Expanded its work to address other infectious diseases like COVID-19, Hepatitis, and Tuberculosis.
• Implemented projects like Project ACCELERATE, providing technical assistance to India’s national, state, and district HIV/AIDS programs.
• Established specialized clinics like the Sabrang Clinic, providing healthcare services to transgender individuals in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
• Created programs like Camp Rainbow, a psychosocial intervention for children living with HIV and chronic illnesses.
• Engaged in research and advocacy, with a team of over 1500 people across India.

The core areas of focus in public health remains HIV adjoining issues concerning the quality of life of HIV infected, affected and at-risk population. These areas ranges from communicable diseases like Tuberculosis, Sexually Transmitted Infections, Hepatitis B & C, Reproductive Tract Infections as well as non-communicable diseases like Hypertension, Cancer, Mental Health. In Public Health, YRGCARE has positioned as a leader in providing strategic and technical leadership to various government and non-government bodies around HIV and its adjoining areas. 

Can you share more about this journey — how these partnerships have evolved over time and what they’ve meant for your work in India?

YRG Care has a long and respected history of collaboration with Johns Hopkins University and other international partners.  These partnerships have brought innovations in research and implementation of HIV/AIDS programs in India. YRGCARE has led evidence building research and innovative practices in HIV/AIDS program by addressing local epidemic needs. These activities have complemented National Government’s AIDS Control Program over the years. In 1986, when Dr. Suniti Solomon documented the first HIV case in India, she led the forefront of bringing the Indian scientific community to acknowledge the need for surveillance mechanisms and laboratory facilities to support program interventions. YRGCARE collaborated with leading universities and laboratory partners to set-up advance laboratory in Chennai. This laboratory is well-recognised by Indian Council of Medical Research, the highest government body to lead health sector research activities in India as well as other global partners. From 2000 onwards, YRGCARE led several research activities in the field to create newer evidences on HIV epidemic scenarios and possible solutions. Most of these research activities provided an opportunity to connect communities specially people living with HIV and key population.

Through these partnerships with universities and other global partners, donors – YRGCARE has benefitted India’s National AIDS Control Program in below areas:

• Building local evidence about epidemic scenarios and supporting the HIV surveillance activities in India.
• Building capacity of local institutions, individuals including people living with HIV so that they continue to contribute to the advancement in HIV/AIDS.
• Build ownership among the people infected and affected with HIV including children to lead the rights based programs in India.
• Managed to build the capacity of health care providers and medical fraternity

In your view, what makes school-based TB interventions both important and timely in the Indian context today?

India has the highest tuberculosis (TB) burden globally, accounting for about 27% of global TB cases (WHO Global TB Report 2023). Children under 15 years represent around 10–12% of TB cases in India, and many more may remain undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. School-based TB interventions have multiple benefits as through school early detection of TB among children can be implemented by existing school health programs run by Ministry of Health. Educating students and teachers about TB symptoms and promoting prompt medical consultation can help curb transmission within the school environment. School-based interventions can indirectly reach families and communities to improve case finding, treatment compliance. India’s goal to eliminate TB by 2025 necessitates comprehensive strategies, including school-based interventions. 

Children up to 14 years constitute about 30% (Census 2011) of the population in India and are expected to contribute about 13% of the caseload.1 In absolute numbers, children up to 14 years total 37 crores, while adolescents aged 10–19 years total 25.3 crores in India.3 In 2019, the NTEP reported 1.5 lakh TB cases of children aged 0–14 years, indicating a gap of 55% in TB notifications in this age group. However, implementation of large-scale private and public aided schools in India requires a rigorous active case finding tool especially considering the TB burden in rural parts of India.

The TB Free Schools Initiative brings newer evidence in improving case finding protocols as well as strengthening the importance of community led response specially in prevention and treatment compliance for children and adolescents infected with TB.

Can you tell us about the team working on TFSI at YRG Care? What kind of expertise and spirit do they bring to the field?

The team at YRGCARE working on the TB Free Schools Initiative (TFSI) is a multidisciplinary group of over 20 dedicated professionals, including clinicians, social workers, public health specialists, experienced program managers and community outreach coordinators, drawn from YRGCARE’s broader workforce of more than 1,500 across India. As the implementing partner for TFSI in collaboration with the Gupta-Klinsky India Institute at Johns Hopkins University, the team focuses on on-the-ground execution in sites like Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), handling tasks such as TB awareness sessions in schools, screening programs, treatment linkage, and preventive therapy rollout for children aged 6–18.

Their expertise spans infectious disease management, with strong backgrounds in TB diagnostics, epidemiology, and co-infection handling (e.g., HIV-TB overlaps, drawing from YRGCARE’s 30+ years in HIV care). Many team members are trained in advanced tools like AI-enabled X-ray analysis and molecular diagnostics, adapted from  JHU technical assistance and their collaborations. Social workers bring skills in community sensitization and psychosocial support, ensuring culturally sensitive interventions in diverse settings, including rural and urban schools. The spirit they embody is one of compassion, innovation, and empowerment—rooted in YRGCARE’s mission to foster dignity and inclusion. This is evident in their proactive engagement, such as conducting interactive TB education sessions for students and teachers, which not only detect cases early but also build community ownership to reduce stigma and improve compliance. Their collaborative ethos has been key in workshops like the July 2025 pre-launch event in Chennai, where they aligned with national stakeholders to refine operational plans.

How do you see academic-public health partnerships like this one strengthening India’s response to TB?

Academic-public health partnerships, such as the one between YRGCARE and Johns Hopkins University’s Gupta-Klinsky India Institute for TFSI, are pivotal in bolstering India’s TB response by bridging global research with local implementation, accelerating innovation, and enhancing scalability. These collaborations leverage academic expertise—like JHU’s proven models that achieved an 87% TB reduction in prior school-based programs in Himachal Pradesh— to introduce cutting-edge technologies (e.g., AI for X-ray diagnostics, short-course preventive therapies) into India’s National TB Elimination Program (NTEP), which aims for TB-free status by 2025.

They strengthen capacity building by training local health workers and institutions, as seen in YRGCARE’s history of partnerships that have supported HIV surveillance and now extend to TB, fostering evidence-based policies and community-led responses. For instance, TFSI’s integration with government bodies (e.g., Central TB Division, ICMR) and education departments ensures sustainable, multi-sectoral approaches, addressing paediatric TB’s under-diagnosis (India accounts for 28% of global childhood cases) through school screenings that reach families and curb transmission. Ultimately, such partnerships amplify impact by combining YRGCARE’s grassroots reach with academic rigor, promoting equity, reducing the 55% notification gap in child TB cases, and contributing to broader goals like early detection, treatment adherence, and stigma reduction—positioning India as a leader in eliminating TB.