Your Excellency Dr Veronika Skvortsova, Minister of Health of the Russian Federation,
My sister Amina Mohamed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for the European Region,
DR Carissa Etienne, Regional Director for PAHO and Dr Shidi Moeti, Regional Director for AFRO.
Honourable ministers, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
It is a great privilege to be with you on this historic occasion.
We are deeply honoured that President Putin will be joining us shortly.
His attendance here today, and the fact that more than 70 ministers from different sectors of government have gathered together to focus on this issue, is a powerful statement about the political momentum that is building to end TB.
But it’s not just the ministers. It’s inspiring to see such a huge turnout for this event from all partners.
I want to mention especially the Stop TB Partnership. Your relentless efforts to fight this disease, and draw the world’s attention to it, are paying dividends. Today is the evidence of that.
Thank you to my brother Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, Health Minister of South Africa, for your leadership as Chair of the Stop TB Partnership, and your vice chair, Dr Joanne Carte, and the Executive Secretary Dr Lucica Ditiu.
MSF is another key partner. For three decades, you have been delivering life-saving treatment to many thousands of people. Your dedication is nothing short of inspiring.
Thank you also to Dr Eric Goosby, the UN Special Envoy on TB, for your leadership in working for progress not only against tuberculosis, but also for universal health coverage.
And of course, I must not fail to mention our own Mario. Dr Mario Raviglione, who has been Director of WHO’s Global TB Programme since 2003, and is retiring soon. Your achievements speak for themselves. None of us would be here today if it were not for you. Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Moscow is the perfect place for this meeting, because it is a symbol of progress and hope in the fight against tuberculosis.
The Russian Federation has a high burden of TB. But it has also made incredible progress.
The number of new cases of TB in Russia has declined dramatically since 2010, and mortality has dropped at an average of 11% a year.
Of the 30 countries with the biggest burden of TB, Russia has the highest treatment coverage.
These are remarkable achievements.
And Russia is not the only country that is making headway.
Between 2000 and 2016, our efforts to fight TB saved 53 million lives.
That’s six lives saved every minute -- for 17 years!
But despite these gains, the burden of suffering and death due to TB remains immense.
This ancient disease has plagued the human race for thousands of years.
Today it is the world’s biggest infectious killer.
Last year, more than 10 million people fell ill with TB, and 1.7 million men, women, and children lost their lives.
That’s three people every minute. In the time it takes me to address you today, tuberculosis will have killed more than 20 people.
About 45% of all cases are in the Southeast Asian region, 25% are in the African region, and 17% in the Western Pacific.
Just seven countries (India, Indonesia, China, Philippines, Pakistan, Nigeria and South Africa) account for almost two-thirds of all cases. This is where we must focus our efforts. This is the frontline.
Behind every number is a person.
Like the doctor who was infected with multidrug-resistant TB during her medical training here in Russia, and endured 18 months of painful treatment to get rid of it.
Soon you will be hearing from Timpiyan Leseni, another TB survivor. Thank you for your courage in talking openly about your experience. You are the human face of this epidemic. You remind us what we are up against. You remind us what is at stake.
Like so many diseases, TB strikes the poorest and most marginalized communities the hardest.
People living in cramped conditions. Prisoners. Miners. Indigenous people. People living with HIV. And refugees and migrants.
If we are truly to end TB, we must reach these communities.
The biggest barriers to reaching them are stigma and discrimination.
Every time a person with HIV is denied treatment, we jeopardise progress.
Every time we fail to give refugees health services, we ensure that TB will continue to kill.
The catch-cry of the Sustainable Development Goals is “to leave no one behind”.
But today, we estimate that there are more than 4 million people in the world with TB who don’t know they have it because of underreporting and under-diagnosis.
That’s 4 million people who are being left behind.
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is very appropriate that we are holding this meeting at the same time as World Antibiotic Awareness Week.
Antimicrobial resistance, which includes multidrug-resistant TB, poses a major health security risk.
Multi-drug resistant TB has been undermining progress in the fight against TB for decades.
Treating TB is demanding enough – the standard treatment is six months of taking four different drugs.
But for multidrug-resistant TB, patients require up to 2 years of expensive, painful, toxic treatment.
Unless we confront drug-resistant TB head-on, we risk losing the gains we have made. We could go backwards.
It is encouraging that antimicrobial resistance – including multidrug-resistant TB – is now on the global political agenda, including at last year’s UN General Assembly, and at the G20, G7 and BRICS meetings.
Political attention is very vital. But it is not enough.
Patients are crying out for new treatment options.
We must heed their cry.
We must invest now in research and development.
The good news is that all countries have committed to ending the TB epidemic as part of the Sustainable Development Goals and the WHO End TB Strategy.
Together, we need to urgently translate these commitments into action.
We must aggressively scale up TB programmes.
More importantly, those programmes must be embedded in national health plans that are designed to move countries closer to universal health coverage.
That’s why we say all roads lead to universal health coverage. UHC is the answer and financial protection is the cornerstone of UHC.
No one should get sick and die from TB – or any other disease – simply because they cannot afford care.
No one should get sick and die from TB – or any other disease – simply because they cannot access care.
Investments in strong health systems, based on people-centred primary care, are the best way to promote health, prevent disease, boost health security and drive inclusive economic growth.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We have arrived at an unprecedented moment in the fight against this ancient killer.
The Moscow Declaration that you have worked so hard to hammer out will be a milestone achievement.
Next year’s High-Level Meeting on Tuberculosis at the United Nations General Assembly is the opportunity many of us have been waiting for.
We may never get another like it.
History will be our judge. Will we seize the moment?
Will we act on our commitments?
Will we put our money where our mouths are?
There are four crucial areas for action.
First, all countries must expand access to prevention and treatment services, within the context of universal health coverage.
Second, we must ensure sufficient and sustainable financing for the TB response.
Third, we must invest urgently in research and development.
And finally, we must work together across sectors to put an end to TB once and for all.
And that’s why we have agreed today with civil society, no more calls for action! But we need strong commitments, and we need to work day-to-day until we come together at the high-level meeting next year in New York.
It will not be easy. But we must believe it is possible.
None of us can achieve this on our own.
But by harnessing the power of partnership, we can End TB together.
The house is full! Full of ministers and partners. We need to work together day-to-day until September 2018.
Thank you.