GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - For the first time ever, the Stop TB Partnership Board will meet in person during the World TB Day, in India - the country with the highest TB Burden and at the same time - the highest ambitions, plans and actions to fight TB.
The oldest inhabited city in the world - Varanasi, India will be the epicentre for TB response from 23-26 March 2023 – with expected innovations, initiatives, commitments and funding to be announced towards the global movement centered on the 2023 World TB Day Campaign of Yes! We can End TB.
First time ever, the Stop TB Board - which is co-branded with G20 Presidency, will be preceded by the High-Level Event “One World TB Summit” under the leadership of Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi as the keynote speaker. With incredible leadership and vision, bold ambition and groundbreaking initiatives and interventions, India is leading the way to end TB globally.
Four days of high-octane activities will include:
On 23rd March: REACH India with USAID and Stop TB Partnership, will organize a unique event that will ensure TB Champions and TB survivors from India take the centre stage. Over 50 TB champions from across India will join the National TB Elimination Program on the eve of World TB Day and will share their critical contributions in the fight to end TB as well as the gaps and challenges that must be addressed to end TB in India by 2025. Communities are expected to release a collective vision entitles The Varanasi Statement, to capture the essence of this community mobilization and commitment.
On 24th March: The World TB Day (WTBD), the Government of India and Stop TB Partnership will host the high-level TB Summit “One World TB Summit.” The Summit keynote speech will be by the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi who will also launch multiple initiatives toward ending TB by 2025 in India.
Health Ministers and senior government officials from 35 different countries, technical partners, TB survivors, civil society, donors, private sector manufacturers and private sector health care providers, researchers, academia, and innovators, will be in attendance, to indicate their ongoing efforts and commitments to end TB.
It is an incredible honour for all of us that India’s Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi has agreed to grace the One World TB Summit and deliver the Key Note address. India leads the TB response – high burden but incredible vision and actions. On 24th March the PM will announce several initiatives that will continue the efforts of the country towards ending TB by 2025. We, in Stop TB Partnership are honoured and proud to support in any way we can, the government, Minister of Health and his amazing team. We are firm believers that India will achieve the targets of ending TB by 2025 and will pave the way for the entire world.
I am very happy to see more than 35 countries represented to our Board as well as all our amazing
TB survivors and champions and partners. It is an historic moment - we all come together on World TB Day, in an ancient city like Varanasi to plan ending ancient diseases such as tuberculosis. As Vice Chair of the Stop TB Partnership Board, I welcome all our Board members, alternate Board Members and guests to our meetings and I am convinced that we can end TB together”–
said Mr. Austin Obiefuna, the Vice Chair of the Stop TB Partnership Board.
On the 25th March: The Board Meeting will be inaugurated by the Chair Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Vice Chair Mr. Austin Obiefuna, Executive Director Afro Global Alliance. Affected Community and NGO Delegations to the Stop TB Partnership Board will take the stage to launch The Accountability Report of TB-affected Communities & Civil Society: Priorities to Close the Deadly Divide. With inputs from over 1200 TB-affected communities and civil society partners from over 92 countries, the 6 “calls to action” from the report provide a community perspective on progress against targets and priorities to end TB. The first day of the Board will include a forward-looking session “Making the Impossible – Possible” in which 1-2 years innovations in TB service delivery, data systems, digital health, diagnosis, treatment and care developed in India will be shared.
On 26th March: The Board will continue the deliberations on the continuation of the engagement for the success of the UNHLM on TB in September, to the funding of the TB Response – centred on the engagement with the Global Fund. There will be the finalization of the Board Governance Review that will reveal a unique structure in the global health with more than 50% of the voting members being from TB High Burden Countries. The Board Meeting will officially conclude on the same day.
