UK investments, research, and revolutionary treatments can help end tuberculosis: UK statement at the UN Tuberculosis High-level Meeting
Statement by Lord (Tariq) Ahmad at the UN Tuberculosis High-Level Meeting on ending tuberculosis.
I thank the President of the General Assembly and distinguished colleagues from Poland and Uzbekistan for your leadership on this summit and its political declaration.
In 2015 the world committed to ending TB by 2030.
Now is the right time to come together and reaffirm our commitment to end TB, and our collective action to make that happen.
皇冠体育app UK welcomes the declaration made at this meeting and the commitments in it.
We know that investments against TB can strengthen health systems and support us to achieve universal health coverage.
皇冠体育appy can help us to prepare for future pandemics.
And they can help us in the fight against Anti-Microbial Resistance.
I am proud of the UK鈥檚 record in the fight against TB.
皇冠体育app UK is the third largest donor to the Global Fund investing over four and a half billion pounds over the last twenty years.
Our latest 拢1 billion pledge will provide TB treatment and care for over a million people and screen twenty million.
We have reduced the price and improved access to key drugs through our support to Unitaid, the Clinton Health Access Initiative and MedAccess.
And I鈥檓 very pleased that on Monday our Foreign Secretary acknowledged the importance of research, with a further 拢5 million to the TB alliance to support the development of new treatments.
This brings our funding to nearly 拢70 million over 6 years.
皇冠体育app TB Alliance has already brought revolutionary new treatments to market 鈥� more than a million courses of children鈥檚 medicines have been delivered to 123 countries.
And their new treatment for drug resistant-TB is quicker, more effective, has fewer side effects and is estimated to save up to 43,000 more lives by 2025.
We are also taking action to tackle TB in the UK.
Despite falling cases, TB remains a risk to the most vulnerable, and progress towards elimination has stalled.
Drug resistance remains an issue and we are taking the lead in using genome sequencing to identify resistance patterns and ensure effective treatment.
And the UK Health Security Agency is working with partners to evaluate promising vaccine candidates.
Our efforts to improve global health will continue into 2024, with next year鈥檚 High-level Meeting on Anti-Microbial Resistance a landmark opportunity to tackle AMR on a truly global scale.
Thank you for your time today, and for your continued commitment to end this cruel disease.