New York: Europe and the Arabs

World leaders at the high-level meeting on tuberculosis control - on the sidelines of the General Assembly's general debate - agreed to a political declaration that includes ambitious new targets for the next five years to strengthen global efforts towards eliminating tuberculosis. According to the United Nations daily news bulletin, a copy of which we received this morning
The goals included in the political declaration include providing TB prevention and care services to 90 percent of people, providing social benefit packages for all people with TB, licensing at least one new vaccine, and closing funding gaps for implementation and research by 2027.
Before the meeting, which was described as historic, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, officially launched the TB Vaccine Acceleration Council to facilitate the development, licensing and use of new vaccines to combat the disease.

“The just-approved political declaration reflects the importance of a comprehensive societal and governmental approach, and provides evidence-based recommendations to eliminate TB by 2030,” General Assembly President Denis Francis said at the opening of the meeting.

Francis noted that time is running out, saying, “I am counting on you to inspire political commitments driven by science, equality and inclusion. I encourage you to use today’s platform to send a clear and unified message. Together – at the highest level – we can end TB.”

Personal commitment
The Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed, recalled a special moment in her speech to those gathered, saying, “My commitment is my personal story. I lost my father to tuberculosis at the age of 50, 37 years ago this week.”
She added that the tools necessary to diagnose tuberculosis are available today, stressing that “what we need now is a vaccine. Let us end tuberculosis now. It is possible.”
In turn, the President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, Paula Narvaez, expressed her hope to learn more about the specific commitments that will emerge from those deliberations.
She called on those gathered to "show ambition and dynamism, so that we can win this battle against tuberculosis, for the sake of current and future generations."
She also urged us to seize “this historic opportunity to save millions of lives, and to work together to end tuberculosis forever.”

fatal disease
Also at the meeting, the Director-General of the World Health Organization noted that in 2021, tuberculosis killed more than one million people and infected millions more.
He added, "In the time he took to make these remarks, 10 people would have died from tuberculosis somewhere in the world. Most of them are poor, marginalized, or malnourished," noting that the direct cost associated with tuberculosis treatment exposes them to financial or financial difficulties. pushes them into more poverty.
It is noteworthy that the meeting was held under the slogan “Advancing science, finance, innovation and their benefits in order to urgently end global tuberculosis, especially by ensuring equitable access to prevention, testing, treatment and care.”
The main objective of the meeting was to conduct a comprehensive review of the progress achieved in the context of achieving the goals set in the 2018 Political Declaration, and within the Sustainable Development Goals.
The political declaration will be presented to the United Nations General Assembly for adoption.