World Tuberculosis (TB) Day: Minister West's speech
To mark World TB Day, Minister for the Indo-Pacific, Catherine West, spoke at a reception hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Global TB.
I wanted to thank everybody in this room for their efforts to fight this terrible disease, from finding and treating patients, to working on the new drugs and methods we need to combat TB.
We know it will take strong and united efforts to stamp out this age-old disease – so thank you for the important roles you play.
Now, I’ll begin by addressing the elephant in the room – the fact that the government will be lowering its spend on international development.
At this time of profound change, with conflicts overseas undermining security and prosperity at home, the Prime Minister had to make this very difficult decision. He was clear this was not an announcement he wanted make.
We are all proud of Britain’s record on development around the world, including when it comes to fighting TB.
Our support to the TB Alliance has led to game-changing research and development with new and better treatments being rolled out around the world – including within our own NHS.
Our support to brilliant organisations like MedAccess, Unitaid and the Clinton Health Access Initiative has driven down prices and improved access to critical drugs and diagnostics. All increasing the impact of our substantial investment in the Global Fund.
As the Prime Minister said, we will do all we can to move towards rebuilding our capacity when it comes to development.
And we remain determined to help the most vulnerable people.
As Minister for the Indo-Pacific region, I am painfully aware of the devastation that TB continues to wreak, particularly in the poorest communities.
This is one of the reasons why I am so committed to supporting the Global Fund, which provides more than three-quarters of all international funding to combat TB.
This is making a real impact – deaths have fallen by 40 per cent over the past two decades in countries where the Global Fund invests.
The UK is proud to be a founding and significant donor. And we are very glad that later this year we will co-host the Global Fund’s eighth replenishment together with South Africa. That joint convening role we’re looking forward to playing very much.
Deputy High Commissioner, I am delighted that our countries are working together on this as the firmest of friends and partners on the international stage.
I know our teams will be collaborating closely behind the scenes to make the replenishment the biggest possible success.
And we want to work with all the people in this room. Everyone here has an important part to play in the fight against TB.
We know the stakes are high – we have to make this moment count.
Because the world is off-track when it comes to our goal of ending TB by the end of this decade. There is still time however, to make significant progress.
We are making big steps forward in finding the tools we need to prevent, diagnose and treat this disease. But we need much greater political will from countries with the ability to finance their own fight.
And we need a successful Global Fund replenishment to support those who need it most. There is a huge amount we can do by 2029 and we must continue to press our efforts to reduce new cases of TB by more than a quarter and deaths by more than a half, while finding and treating nearly 20 per cent more TB patients.
So, together with South Africa we will use our convening power to galvanise global efforts in this pivotal year.
I hope that by the time the world marks the next TB Day, we will have further progress to celebrate.
Thank you.