24 January 2013 - Davos, Switzerland - A dinner event co-organized by Global Health and Diplomacy and the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership in Davos tonight as a side event to the World Economic Forum focused on tuberculosis (TB) as a major health and development challenge for Afghanistan. "The Government of Afghanistan has placed tuberculosis among its highest priorities and has established a strong control program that is accountable and transparent. The Government has mobilized its health workforce, infrastructure and resources to provide tuberculosis care to more than 28,000 people annually," said Dr Surya Dalil, Minister for Public Health, Government of Afghanistan.
Other speakers focused on the key challenge of maternal and child health. Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke of the key importance of this area of global development. "In the past few years, the international community has come together to make real progress on improving the health of women and children in developing countries," he said.
HE Jakaya Kikwete, President of the United Republic of Tanzania, HRH Princess Astrid of Belgium and RBM Special Representative and Professor Jeffrey Sachs, UN Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on MDGs, made keynote remarks. Guests included the Honorable Ministers of Health of Senegal and Nigeria, Honorable Minister of the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom, Secretary-General of the UN International Telecommunication Union, and Executive Director of UNFPA, alongside distinguished participants from governments, businesses, NGOs, the UN and the international global health community.