Call for Filling the Funding Gap
TB control is essential for people to build a better life. We recognize access to TB treatment is a fundamental human right. Yet, there are millions of people who do not have access to the life-saving treatment because many countries lack sufficient financial resources.
The funding available for global TB control has increased in recent years. However, it will be a continuing challenge for the Stop TB Partnership to help mobilize sufficient resources to reach the targets outlined in this Global Plan.
Successful implementation of the Global Plan requires long-term commitment and sustainable financing. Filling the funding gap will mean:
- 50 million people will be treated in DOTS and DOTS-Plus programmes;
- More than 3 million HIV-positive TB patients will be enrolled on antiretroviral therapy;
- Advocacy, communication and social mobilization will have become an integral part of TB control;
- New drugs and diagnostic tests will be in use, and a new vaccine licensed;
- 14 million lives will be saved in the next ten years (2006-2015);
- The MDG target for TB - to have halted and begun to reverse the incidence of TB by 2015 - will be achieved; and
- The Stop TB Partnership's own ambitious targets for 2015 - to halve prevalence and death rates from the 1990 baseline - will be met globally.
We believe that TB control should be considered as not only an end in itself but also a way of contributing to poverty reduction and human development.
