Multidrug-resistant TB crisis subject of the Pacific Health Summit

18 June 2009, Seattle, Washington - A three-day meeting about MDR-TB by world leaders in global health, science, industry and policy came to a close today. "MDR-TB: Overcoming Global Resistance", was the theme of this 5th annual Pacific Health Summit.

The event followed the arc of three important international health meetings addressing TB this year: the STOP TB Forum in Rio de Janeiro, a ministerial meeting of high M/XDR-TB burden countries in Beijing and the World Health Assembly in Geneva.

Participants at the meeting included Margaret Chan, Director-General, WHO; Paul Farmer, Founding Director, Partners In Health; Anthony Fauci, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Chris Viehbacher, CEO, sanofi-aventis; John Dineen, President and CEO, GE Healthcare; Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; Ann Veneman, Executive Director, UNICEF; Dr Mario Raviglione, Director of the Stop TB Department and Dr Marcos Espinal, Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership.