A message from the Executive director on the release of The Unions's annual report
A message from José Luis Castro, Executive Director, The Union
This week we stand on the verge of a major milestone in our journey to rid the world of tuberculosis (TB) – the first ever United Nations High-Level Meeting on TB.
This must be a moment when our political leaders show that taking on an epidemic like TB needs bold action and not just hopeful promises. This is a moment when we need action across all sectors, not only healthcare, because we know now that TB has major social and political complexities.
In the same week, we will see the UN High-Level Meeting on non-communicable diseases; we hope these two meetings will reinforce our view of taking an integrated approach to global health.
Against this backdrop, I am proud to share The Union’s annual report, showing the work we have done and the impact we have achieved around the world in 2017.
This past year, we continued our commitment to research with the release of preliminary results from Stage 1 of the STREAM randomised clinical trial. We stepped up our advocacy work, delivering a TB-Free India Summit that galvanised support from highest levels of government, the media and Indian celebrities for increasing momentum to end TB on the continent by 2025. We enabled countries like Indonesia to implement 100 percent smoke-free laws and tobacco advertising bans, facing down the relentless bullying from a tobacco industry that continually seeks new markets to exploit. And we worked with our partners at the Forum of International Respiratory Societies to establish the first ever dedicated World Lung Day, to be marked for the second time this week.
I am proud of the relentless commitment from all Union members and staff that is quite literally saving lives every day, and building the evidence and momentum to support the next steps in a world free from TB and a world preventing NCDs.
Thank you to all those who support and carry out our work, let’s hope this historic year brings us the progress that is urgently needed.
Please read our report in full online at 2017.theunion.org and please share widely to help continue our work.