WHO World TB Day Newsletter

Dear friends, colleagues and partners,

As we come together to commemorate World TB Day, we stand in solidarity with the millions of people who fall ill with TB each year and remember the millions who have lost their lives from this preventable and curable disease. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic coupled with conflicts across Europe, Africa and the Middle East, has placed an even heavier burden on those affected, leading to disruption of essential TB services and additional deaths.

TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious killers. Each day, over 4000 people lose their lives to TB and close to 30,000 people fall ill with this preventable and curable disease.

Global efforts to combat TB have saved an estimated 66 million lives since the year 2000. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has reversed years of progress made in the fight to end TB. For the first time in over a decade, TB deaths increased in 2020.

The focus this year for World TB Day and theme - ‘Invest to end TB. Save lives.’ –conveys the urgent need to dramatically increase investments to ramp up the fight against TB and achieve commitments to end TB made by global leaders. This is vital to ensure no one is left behind in equitably accessing TB prevention and care in line with WHO’s drive towards achieving Universal Health Coverage. Importantly investing in the fight against tuberculosis is a “no brainer” development target, according to The Economist and the Copenhagen Consensus, given the benefits gained per dollar spent. For every USD 1 invested to end TB, USD 43 is returned as the benefits of a healthy functioning society. An analysis in the Lancet further bolsters this, highlighting that investments towards ending TB, can lead to avoiding 23.8 million tuberculosis deaths and $13 trillion in economic losses by 2030.

On World TB Day, WHO is calling for action on several fronts to ramp up investments and ensure that the commitments made to end TB are achieved:

1. First, we would like to call for an increase in domestic and international investments to close funding gaps for TB implementation and research. Countries are urged to increase domestic investments in the context of universal health coverage as a sustainable way of closing this financing gap. However, for countries with weaker economies that have inadequate fiscal capacity to expand public financing, especially following the enormous socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19, international support will be required in the short or medium term. We need international donors to significantly  increase investments and also leverage other existing and new financing mechanisms to chart the way forward to a comprehensive recovery of progress.
2. Second, we should not forget that progress in public health depends on innovation: financing for TB research must more than double to drive discovery of new tools, including vaccines, and to scale up lifesaving innovations. WHO is intensifying efforts to shape the TB vaccines agenda, with a high level push this year through a summit.
3. Third, investments go beyond financing. We need to invest in sustaining essential TB services during the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing conflicts to ensure that gains made in the fight against TB are not reversed.  All measures should be taken to ensure continuity of services for people who need preventive and curative treatment for TB. People-centred delivery of TB prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care services, including through digital technologies, should be ensured in tandem with the COVID-19 response and other emergency responses. TB needs to be included into pandemic preparedness plans for countries.  
4. Fourth, we need to invest in accelerating the uptake of new WHO guidelines and tools, including all-oral treatments, rapid molecular tests, that can significantly improve access, quality of care and better outcomes for those affected. We have just released  new consolidated guidelines on the management of TB in children and adolescents that are a gamechanger. Children and adolescents with TB are lagging behind adults in access to TB prevention and care. We should rapidly expand implementation of the guidance across countries to save young lives and avert suffering.
5. Fifth, we are concerned by the growing rates of poverty, inequity, under nutrition, comorbidities, discrimination and stigma that are major drivers of the TB epidemic. We need to invest in extending social protection and universal health coverage, combating stigma and discrimination, as well as strengthening multisectoral engagement and accountability. We need concerted action and greater accountability by all sectors to provide the right services, support and enabling safe environment in the right place, at the right time for people with TB.

All these investments and actions can help drive the TB response to save lives and reach the global TB targets. This will be critical especially as we prepare for the second UN High Level Meeting on TB in 2023, that will bring together Heads of State and other leaders to re-energize commitments to end TB.

At WHO we commit to invest in leading the End TB response and keeping the promises made to the millions affected by TB each year – despite any hardships, challenges or crises that come our way. We cannot falter in our commitment till we reach and save every person, family and community impacted by this deadly disease.

We call on you to join us in making investments of your time, energy, support, care or financing towards ending TB. You can be a beacon of hope - everyone has a role to play in ending TB – individuals, communities, civil society, youth, businesses  and governments.

We cannot falter in our commitment till we reach and save every man, woman, child, family and community impacted by this deadly disease.

Join us! No more excuses and delays – in prioritizing and investing to end one of the top infectious killers.

Invest to end suffering and deaths. Invest to end TB. Save Lives!

Thank you.

Dr Tereza Kasaeva
Director
Global TB Programme
World Health Organization

WORLD TB DAY VIDEO MESSAGE
DR TEREZA KASAEVA, DIRECTOR, WHO GLOBAL TB PROGRAMME

WHO World TB Day 2022 - Online Talk Show

Over 300 participants joined the World Health Organization (WHO) Online Talk Show to commemorate World TB Day on 24 March at 12:30H CET. The high level event put the spotlight on the urgent need to invest resources to ramp up the fight against TB and achieve the commitments to end TB made by global leaders. Key speakers included, Health Ministers, Heads of Agencies, TB survivor, civil society, partners and WHO leadership. Access the Youtube recording here.

WHO World TB Day Press Conference

On World TB Day WHO calls for increased investments into TB services and research

21 March 2022, Geneva | On World TB Day, WHO calls for an urgent investment of resources, support, care and information into the fight against tuberculosis (TB). Although 66 million lives have been saved since 2000, the COVID-19 pandemic has reversed those gains. For the first time in over a decade, TB deaths increased in 2020. Ongoing conflicts across Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East have further exacerbated the situation for vulnerable populations. Read on

Live Q&A
WHO FACEBOOK LIVE

WHO organized a special World TB Day Facebook Live on 24 March to build awareness about tuberculosis. The Facebook live was streamed on several WHO social media platforms including Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube and received over 100K views.

Spotlight on tuberculosis in children and adolescents

On World TB Day, WHO released new guidelines for the management of TB in children and adolescents. The consolidated WHO guidelines include recommendations that span the TB cascade of care, from diagnostic approaches to treatment of both drug susceptible and drug resistant TB, to models of care to optimise TB prevention and case detection efforts. The new recommendations provide an opportunity to significantly improve the care provided to children, adolescents and families affected by TB.

• WHO consolidated guidelines on tuberculosis Module 5: Management of tuberculosis in children and adolescents
• WHO operational handbook on tuberculosis Module 5: Management of tuberculosis in children and adolescents
• Information sheet: Management of tuberculosis in children and adolescents