Presenting the European Forum for TB Innovation: innovative thinking in progressing towards TB elimination in Europe

On March 9, 2012 the European Respiratory Society (ERS) launched its first ever think tank on tuberculosis (TB): the European Forum for TB Innovation. When we, as prospective authors, sat down to tackle the content layout of this short editorial, we realised that we could not just use the academic tone that commonly characterises scientific articles. The principles that have led the ERS to embrace the discussion surrounding TB innovation transcend science and academic discussion. They are principles originating from the need to re-think TB control in Europe and beyond. We therefore felt that our personal account on how we came to agree to contribute to this new initiative was the only acceptable way of bringing this editorial to life.