09 August - Geneva - The Stop TB Partnership's mission is to serve every person who is vulnerable to tuberculosis (TB) and ensure that high-quality diagnosis, treatment and care is available to all who need it. Indigenous peoples are often poor and marginalized and it is among such groups that the burden of TB is highest. A large share of the 370 million indigenous peoples living in 70 countries, have a high burden of health challenges and low access to diagnosis, treatment and care. In industrialized countries, TB incidence and mortality rates are generally several times higher among indigenous peoples than among others born in those countries. Fighting TB among indigenous peoples is therefore at the heart of the Stop TB Partnership’s mission.
Read the statement of the Executive Secretary
Read more on the event: http://www.un.org/en/events/indigenousday/ and http://undesadspd.org/IndigenousPeoples/InternationalDay/2013.aspx