Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoMeetings & Events
United to End Tuberculosis: An Urgent Global Response to a Global Epidemic - Plenary 2 and Closing Segment
World leaders in the General Assembly today reaffirmed their commitment to end the global tuberculosis epidemic by 2030, unanimously adopting a political declaration committing them to accelerate national and collective actions, investments and innovations in fighting the preventable disease.
Through the Declaration ‑ titled “United to End Tuberculosis: An Urgent Global Response to a Global Epidemic” and adopted at a high‑level meeting on the issue ‑ Heads of State and Government recognized that TB disproportionately affects developing regions and countries. They pledged to provide leadership, acknowledging that multidrug-resistant strains can reverse gains made in combating the disease, which remains among the top 10 causes of death worldwide.
By other terms, they committed to promote access to affordable medicines, including generics, and to provide 40 million people access to diagnosis and treatment by 2022.
Given the strong association between tuberculosis and HIV, leaders also committed to fostering coordination between programmes for both diseases, as well as with other health programmes and sectors to ensure universal access to integrated prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care. Expressing their commitment to community‑based health services, they pledged to strengthen capacity building in low‑ and lower‑middle‑income countries, and foster public‑private cooperation in pursuing the development of newly approved medicines.
On the question of funding, Heads of State and Government committed to mobilize “sufficient and sustainable” financing from all sources for universal access to quality prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care. In so doing, they aim to increase overall global investments for ending TB at least $13 billion annually by 2022 and seek $2 billion for closing the estimated $1.3 billion annual funding gap in tuberculosis research.
Further, leaders requested the Secretary-General, with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), provide a progress report in 2020 on global and national progress to achieve agreed upon TB goals within the context of achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Describing the global situation, General Assembly President María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés (Ecuador) said tuberculosis claimed 1.6 million lives in 2017, despite being a preventable, treatable and curable disease. TB offers an opportunity to actually strengthen health‑care systems, she said, noting that often the poorest, most vulnerable and marginalized are those who suffer.
Echoing those remarks, United Nations Deputy Secretary‑General Amina J. Mohammed called TB the world’s greatest infectious killer, stressing that the voices of affected communities ring clear in the Organization. Poverty and conflict fuelled the spread of the disease. Yet, the fight against it remains drastically underfunded. She called for greater investment in health, as well as system‑wide approaches that promote the well‑being of entire communities. Civil society actors must remain engaged with the United Nations to ensure progress is expedited.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization, said TB is among the top 10 causes of death, with the rise of antibiotic resistance making the threat more dangerous. In early 2018, WHO launched an initiative to treat all 40 million people in need of care by 2022, the success of which rests on unwavering support and high‑level political commitment, as well as increased investment, especially in science and research, and keeping all relevant actors accountable for their promises made. The Political Declaration sets ambitious but achievable targets and WHO is committed to working with all partners to “get the job done”.
Aaron Motsoaledi, Minister for Health of South Africa and Chair of Stop TB Partnership, said TB is fundamentally an issue of social justice: a litmus test of the world’s commitment to fighting poverty ‑ one that it is failing. Drug‑resistant TB has become the major cause of deaths related to microbial resistance, and new TB victims are not being found at high enough rates. He urged the international community to mobilize every available resource, energy and dollar necessary to fight TB.
Veronika Skvortsova, Minister for Health of the Russian Federation and Chair of the World Health Organization Global Ministerial Conference on Tuberculosis, said it was important to have a specific image of a person suffering from TB in one’s mind when considering the availability of vaccines and treatment. Serious political commitment had yielded a breakthrough in the Russian Federation. Over the last 10 years, the TB rate had dropped by 42 per cent, and the mortality rate by 60 per cent.
Peng Liyuan, First Lady of China and World Health Organization Goodwill Ambassador for Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, said via video message that for a decade she has visited TB‑affected communities to raise awareness, change behaviour and encourage action.
Nandita Venkatesan, tuberculosis survivor from India, said TB had robbed her of eight years of her life, her hearing, family time and four years of employment. She spent 18 months of college life braving medication side effects and finding solace in education. She urged world leaders to act now, imploring them to ensure victims have access to up-front testing, treatment and education.
The high‑level meeting also featured two panel discussions: one on TB prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care, and the other on financing. Bill Gates, Co‑Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Aisha Buhari, First Lady of Nigeria and Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS Special Ambassador and Ambassador of the Stop TB Partnership, delivered keynote addresses.