14 May 2010 - Geneva - High-level participants at the Ministerial and Permanent Secretary/ Director level from Ministries of Health, representing thirty seven (37) countries, and representatives of international health organizations gathered at a meeting today jointly organized by the GAVI Alliance, the Global Fund, the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, Stop TB Partnership, UNAIDS and UNITAID. The goal was to prepare for a number of key events due to take place in 2010, a watershed year for the Millennium Development Goal’s (MDG), and ensure that health remains prominent among developmental priorities.
Representing the Stop TB Partnership, Executive Secretary Dr Marcos Espinal noted the danger of the global community becoming complacent at a time when the burden still remains unacceptably high. He highlighted the economic benefits of TB control and called for the enhanced implementation of the TB control strategy that has been proven to work while noting the need for increased and sustainable financing for the deployment of new tools in the coming years.
The participants, who also included Dr Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund; Dr Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS; Dr Jorge Bermudez, Executive Secretary of UNITAID; Helen Evans of GAVI; and Dr James Banda from Roll Back Malaria; agreed to join forces to advocate for increased political and financial support for the health related MDGs by: