The World Health Organization is calling on countries and partners to ‘Unite to End Tuberculosis. With 43 million lives saved since 2000, there has been significant progress in the battle against TB but more can be done.
Ending TB by 2030 is a target of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the ambitious goal of the WHO End TB Strategy.
According to the WHO: “Ending TB will only be achieved with greater collaboration within and across governments, and with partners from civil society, communities, researchers, the private sector and development agencies. This means taking a whole-of-society and multidisciplinary approach, in the context of universal health coverage.
“Momentum is growing at country and community levels – including in the 30 countries with the highest TB burden (over 85% of the global burden). A number of countries are strengthening the strategic agendas of their TB programmes, by adopting newer tools, extending access to care and linking with other parts of government to reduce the financial costs borne by patients. Other countries are partnering with researchers to speed development of diagnostic tests, drugs and vaccines, and to improve delivery.”
