On World Tuberculosis Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) announces that it is expanding the reach of l’Initiative phare of the WHO Director-General on Tuberculosis in the period 2023-2027, in order to accelerate progress towards ending tuberculosis and achieving universal health coverage by 2030.
Tuberculosis remains the deadliest infectious disease in the world. It kills 1.6 million people every year and affects millions more, with huge impacts on families and communities. The COVID-19 pandemic, combined with the current crises of armed conflict, food insecurity, climate change, and political and economic instability, has reversed years of progress made in the fight once morest TB. Last year, for the first time in almost 20 years, the WHO reported an increase in the number of people with TB and drug-resistant TB, as well as an increase in the number of deaths.
“TB is preventable, treatable and curable, yet this age-old scourge that has plagued humanity for millennia continues to cause suffering and kill millions every year,” said Dr.r Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of WHO. “WHO is committed to supporting countries to scale up their control efforts by expanding access to TB prevention, detection and treatment services, as part of their drive towards universal health coverage, and strengthen their means of defense once morest epidemics and pandemics. »
The WHO Director-General’s Flagship Initiative on Tuberculosis builds on progress made and lessons learned during the period 2018-2022. It aims to strengthen the delivery of quality care to people living with TB through equitable access to WHO-recommended rapid diagnostics, shorter, all-oral treatment of infection and disease, and better access to social protection and other innovations, including digital tools for health.
This initiative highlights the urgent need for more national and international investment in TB services, research and innovation, including the development of new vaccines. It calls for TB services and programs to be recognized, particularly in countries with a high TB burden, as an essential component of health systems, as they support primary health care as well as pandemic preparedness and response.
The Director-General’s flagship initiative aims to stimulate multisectoral action and accountability to tackle the main drivers of the TB epidemic: poverty, undernutrition, diabetes, HIV, tobacco use and of alcohol and poor living and working conditions, among others. It is essential and particularly timely to expand the scope of this initiative as international partners prepare for the upcoming United Nations High-Level Meeting on Tuberculosis.
This year, world tuberculosis day has the theme “Yes! We can end TB! “. The aim is to promote optimism and foster high-level leadership, increased investment, rapid adoption of new WHO recommendations and strengthened multisectoral partnerships to combat the TB epidemic.
As part of the Director-General’s flagship initiative, WHO and partners are launching a special call to actionurging Member States to accelerate the roll-out of the new, shorter, all-oral WHO-recommended treatment regimens for drug-resistant tuberculosis.
Drug-resistant TB continues to pose an urgent public health problem and takes a heavy toll on people affected by TB, communities and health systems around the world. In 2021, almost half a million people contracted multidrug-resistant or rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (MR-RR tuberculosis) and only one in three people had access to treatment.
In the new WHO guidelines for the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis, it is recommended to rapidly roll out the new BPaLM/BPaL regimen. The latter has the potential to significantly increase cure rates due to its high efficacy, to be more accessible due to its lower cost, and to improve the quality of life of patients since it is a entirely oral treatment much shorter than traditional regimens.
“In 2023, let’s seize the opportunity to advance the work to eradicate tuberculosis,” said Dr.re Tereza Kasaeva, Director of the WHO Global Tuberculosis Programme. “On World TB Day, WHO is advocating for strong political commitment at the highest level, strong multisectoral collaboration, including beyond health, and an effective accountability system. We need everyone – individuals, communities, corporations, donors and governments – to do their part to end TB. Together, yes, we can end TB. »
In September 2023, the United Nations General Assembly will convene three high-level meetings focusing on universal health coverage, pandemic preparedness and response, and tuberculosis eradication. There are clear links between these issues, and Heads of State will deliberate to accelerate action, including to end TB.
Source: OMS
