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Thank you to the Viet Nam National TB Programme for hosting this important workshop.
On behalf of WHO, I would like to warmly welcome you to this meeting and to Ha Noi today.
Recently, we marked World TB Day, with the theme: “Yes, we can end TB.”
Ending TB is an urgent but obviously very challenging task.
Every year around the world, 10 million people fall ill with TB and 1.5 million die, making it the world’s deadliest infectious disease.
Global efforts to combat TB have saved an estimated 79 million lives since 2000.
However, major cuts in global health funding are now threatening to reverse these gains, putting millions of people at risk.
Since we are meeting in Viet Nam, a few brief words from the perspective of the Viet Nam context:
Like other countries, Viet Nam faces challenges that include limited resources, a high burden of TB and much of the caseload among hard-to-reach populations.
In the face of these challenges, Viet Nam’s TB elimination programme has had very strong commitment from the highest levels of the Government, backed up with grassroots action across the country supported by hard working health-care workers.
As a result, in 2024, Viet Nam reported the highest number of TB cases ever – more than 113,000 people. This might not sound like good news. But, as this audience will understand, the more notifications, the more people are supported to receive treatment. We will only end TB if we find every single person with the disease and get them on to treatment.
So this is a great milestone.
Over the next few days, we will hear more about new WHO TB management policies, which, when implemented in countries like Viet Nam, will lead to:
- better diagnosis
- shorter treatment duration
- better quality of life for patients and
- significant cost savings.
All of which we need to achieve that long-term goal of “ending TB”.
We will also have opportunities to share our successes and challenges, and learn from each other.
All of this will help to achieve our collective aim to reach 3 targets for 2027 that were set at the 2023 UN high-level meeting on TB.
- First, we need to make sure that everyone who is suspected of having TB receives a rapid diagnostic test. As of 2023, the global rate was 48%. We need to double this.
- Second, we need to ensure 90% of people with TB receive treatment. In 2023, the rate was 75%.
- And finally, we need 90% of people in high-risk populations to be covered by preventive treatment. Here again, room to improve. In 2023, only 21% of household contacts of people with TB were being treated. In other words, just one in 5.
So, we are very happy and proud to be supporting this meeting in Viet Nam this week.
At a time when it feels like global health is under threat, it is worth taking time to remember that it is meetings like this one – bringing together experts, partners and practitioners, to do the important work of figuring out how best to apply norms and standards in country contexts – which will help to end TB.
I wish you an excellent workshop.
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