The 2017 G20 Summit concluded today. The G20 Leaders’ Declaration released at the conclusion of the summit has important commitments for the worldwide response to TB and AMR, and to ensuring access to affordable medicines, diagnostics and vaccines.
The 2017 G20 Summit concluded today in Hamburg, Germany. The G20 Leaders’ Declaration that G20 country heads of state released at the conclusion of the summit has important commitments for the worldwide response to tuberculosis (TB) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and to ensuring access to affordable medicines, diagnostics and vaccines. Within the framework of One Health, which recognises the interplay between the health of both human and animal populations, G20 Leaders committed to:
- Developing national action plans against antimicrobial resistance and to seeing implementation of those plans well underway by the end of 2018.
- Promoting access to affordable antimicrobials, diagnostics and vaccines, while highlighting the need to foster research and development for priority pathogens and for TB, specifically.
- Supporting a new international R&D Collaboration Hub to maximize the impact of both existing and new research initiatives—including basic research, clinical research, and new product development.
- Examining market incentives to spur R&D.
In response to the G20 Leaders’ Declaration, The Union made the following statement:
“Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most critical challenges the world faces. Strengthening the response to TB is a cornerstone in the fight against AMR. We welcome the strong commitments to combatting AMR that came from the G20 today. What’s crucial, though, is follow-through. If the G20 fully acts on their commitments, we’ll see the tide turn against AMR, against TB. But we need them to stay committed and to devote the resources. It’s the only way we win,” said José Luis Castro, Executive Director of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union).
“We need new and innovative approaches to research and development if we’re to solve the crisis of antimicrobial resistance. We welcome the G20’s call for a new international R&D Collaboration Hub, as we urgently need new TB treatments, diagnostics and vaccines. Developing them takes new R&D models like the 3P Project—an international R&D partnership working toward an entirely new and affordable TB regimen that treats all forms of TB, including drug-resistant forms. We look forward to working further with G20 leaders to accelerate progress against TB and AMR,” said Dr Paula I Fujiwara, Scientific Director of The Union.
The G20 Summit this year falls in the lead-up to other important events for shaping the global response to TB and AMR: the first-ever Global Ministerial Conference on TB convening 16-17 November in Moscow, and the first-ever United Nations High Level Meeting on Tuberculosis convening at UN headquarters in 2018.
Read the full text of the 2017 G20 Leaders’ Declaration.
Read more about 3P.