The World Health Organization (WHO) Global TB Symposium will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico, this year on 10 October, in collaboration with The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease and with the support of University of Guadalajara, School of Medicine. The Symposium will be held in advance of the 48th Union World Conference on Lung Health and is open to all.
Background and aim
The WHO Global TB Report 2016 had two top messages: • TB is now the leading infectious disease killer • Actions and investments worldwide are far from those needed to accelerate to end the TB epidemic.
Governments have begun to recognize this inadequate start to the 15 year push to end the epidemic. There is recognition that the roadmap for action is provided by the WHO End TB Strategy and the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Agenda, and TB investments needed are laid out in Stop TB Partnership’s five-year Global Plan to End TB, 2016 to 2020.
Yet, the political momentum is insufficient. To begin to remedy this, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has called for a first-ever UNGA High-Level Meeting on TB in 2018. To inform the High-Level Meeting, heads of state and other leaders, WHO and the Russian Federation are holding the first Global Ministerial Conference on Ending TB in the Sustainable Development Era: A Multisectoral Response.
This Conference in November 2017, is bringing together ministers of health, and counterparts from relevant ministries beyond health, from across the globe. The top four outcome areas to be addressed are: (1) Advancing TB response within the universal health coverage, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and the SDG Agenda; (2) Sufficient and sustainable financing; and (3) Science, research and innovation; and (4) Multisectoral accountability.
This year’s Global TB Symposium will enable discussion on these outcome areas and the steps taken by governments, non-governmental and civil society partners, and global agencies in implementing urgent efforts to increase TB care and prevention access today, and building the political momentum for transformatory commitments to accelerate action. The Symposium benefits from the collaboration and participation of the WHO Americas Regional Office/Pan American Health Organization and NTP managers of the Region, the University of Guadalajara, and will include a special session on the efforts towards ending TB by national and local partners in Mexico.
Objectives of the Symposium
1. To review End TB progress made in the last year, drawing on discussions of the 2017 WHO End TB Summit of the 40 highest burden countries, and to highlight actions taken by governments, civil society, parliamentarians, researchers, multilateral agencies and bodies, such as the G20.
2. To discuss the top outcome areas to be addressed at the WHO Global Ministerial Conference on Ending TB in the Sustainable Development Era: A Multisectoral Response in 2017 and steps being taken, within and beyond the health sector, to enable success of the first UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on TB in 2018 and to overcome immediate bottlenecks to action.
3. To address actions taken in the Americas towards ending the TB epidemic and key strategic priorities moving forward, including research agendas.