The Union attended the “Time to End TB” meeting at Wilton Park in the UK on 19-20 June. This was a gathering of experts from all sectors of the tuberculosis (TB) community to address the challenges around eliminating TB and build momentum for developing concrete international action.
TB, despite being curable, is the world’s greatest infectious killer. Every year, over 10 million people contract the disease and nearly two million die from it. Moreover, TB is one of the world’s leading drug-resistant killers. The effects of TB cause immense suffering to individuals and families, while disrupting economies and putting untold strain on healthcare systems worldwide.
The next eighteen months mark an unprecedented opportunity to raise the profile of TB and demand action from political leaders and decision-makers. Starting with the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Hamburg on 7-8 July 2017, through the Global Ministerial Conference in Moscow, Russia, in November 2017, and the United Nations’ High-Level Meeting on Global Tuberculosis to be held during the UN General Assembly in 2018 – the first time a high-level meeting has been convened on TB.
The recent G20 Health Ministers summit in Berlin highlighted the link between anti-microbial resistance (AMR) and TB, and how any response to the AMR crisis must have TB at its core. It is hoped that this commitment will be continued during the Argentinian Presidency of the G20, with further progress expected on the AMR agenda.
At Wilton Park, the sessions covered the importance of strong messaging and joint strategies at all these significant meetings and how the TB community, including The Union, can ensure that this unprecedented political attention be harnessed to ensure the necessary response and funding required to truly eliminate TB is finally delivered.
Read more:
The ‘Time To End TB’ meeting at Wilton Park: http://bit.ly/2s2Exsj
The 12th G20 Summit, Hamburg: http://bit.ly/2rJBoyn