Stop TB Partnership Board in Berlin: re-inforcing high burden country leadership towards ending TB

Board members, ministers of health from India, Indonesia and Mozambique, representatives of office of the Wife of President of Nigeria and heads of UNAIDS, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB & Malaria and UNITAID engaged in an open dialogue on ending TB

30 May 2017 - Berlin, Germany - The 29th Stop TB Partnership Coordinating Board meeting co-hosted by the German Federal Ministry of Health concluded in Berlin earlier this month. The high-level Board meeting was chaired by the Minister of Health from South Africa and Chair of the Stop TB Partnership Board, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi and the Vice Chair, Dr Joanne Carter, Executive Director of RESULTS USA.

The two-day meeting was an opportunity for stakeholders to reflect on the status of TB epidemics and TB interventions globally, the way towards scalling up TB activities at country level, ahead of the upcoming WHO Global Ministerial Conference on Ending TB in Moscow in November, and looking further on, to the UN High Level Meeting on TB in 2018.

The Board meeting was also attended by Ministers of Health from India, Indonesia and Mozambique as well as heads of the agencies from UNAIDS, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB & Malaria, and UNITAID, the United Nations Special Envoy for TB, Dr Eric Goosby and Her Excellency Mrs Florence Ajimobi, Wife of the Governor of Oyo State representing the Office of the Wife of President of Nigeria.

The Stop TB Partnership Coordinating Board provides leadership and direction, monitors the implementation of agreed policies, plans and activities of the Partnership, and ensures smooth coordination among Stop TB Partnership components. The next Coordinating Board Meeting will be held in March 2017 in New Delhi, India.

---------------------------------

Quotes from Ministers and heads of agencies from the two days:

"For the UN HLM, we must ensure that high level leadership -- Heads of States and Governments -- will participate and commit to end TB. I will do my best to ensure their support and participation." - Aaron Motsoaledi, Minister of Health of South Africa and Chair of the Stop TB Partnership Board

"The prevention of and the fight against resistance to antibiotics is a major focus of the German G20 Presidency, and the fight against tuberculosis is seriously affected by antimicrobial resistance. Avoiding resistance and developing new antibiotics are therefore particularly important elements of any anti-TB strategy. We need tuberculosis medicines and forms of treatment which promote patients’ willingness to play an active role in their treatment. In a nutshell: as short as possible, as few pills as possible, minimize side-effects. I am convinced that governments and pharmaceutical companies need to shoulder even greater responsibility here." - Hermann Gröhe, Minister of Health of Germany

"A TB-free India is one of the key priorities with the highest level of commitment from Prime Minister Modi. India has come out with a national health policy of 2017 which aims at achieving universal health coverage and moving towards pre-emptive care. The national health policy reaffirms the commitment to eliminate TB by 2025. We would need all your support in reaching the national and global targets to make India TB-free." - J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare of India

"As one global community, we must enhance our collective effort and strive for a sustainable outcome to ensure the success of our efforts. The G20 has to assume a leading role to end TB as a global priority. We stand ready to share our best practices in support of the Global End TB Strategy." - Nila F Moeloek, Minister of Health of Indonesia

"We have a long way ahead to go if we want to end TB. I count on everyone’s support and I hope that the Stop TB partnership will support us with their advocacy skills and all other platforms they have." - Nazira Karimo Vali Abdula, Minister of Health of Mozambique

"I was delighted to see the commitment of the Ministers of Health and UN leadership to lead the global effort to bring renewed global attention and action for TB. I would like to thank the German government and H.E. Hermann Gröhe, Minister of Health of Germany, for their commitment to the TB cause and for hosting the meeting. It is imperative that we work together to secure the participation of Heads of States and governments, as well as unite key groups in order to ensure a successful UN HLM on TB in 2018." - Dr Joanne Carter, Executive Director of RESULTS USA and Vice Chair of the Stop TB Partnership Coordinating Board

"Global Fund remains committed to work with all partners and especially Stop TB Partnership and support country programmes in achieving their targets and plans and, especially finding their missing people with TB. I strongly believe that the catalytic funding is a great opportunity for TB Community in going towards ending TB". - Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB & Malaria

"The missing millions are hidden among the world’s poorest, most marginalized populations, such as refugees, sex workers, prisoners, people who use drugs, migrants and people who move to cities in search of a better life and end up in informal settlements, left behind by health and social services. Many barriers, including lack of transport, poor education, stigma and discrimination, criminalization and food insecurity, prevent them benefiting from the effective tests and medicines that are freely available today, far less the new technologies of tomorrow." - Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS