UN agrees global plan to fight TB before first summit

UN member states agreed Friday on a global plan to step up the fight against tuberculosis, the leading cause of death among infectious diseases in the world, and address the problems of access to cheap drugs with United States.

After weeks of tough negotiations, the text of a final declaration has been approved and will be formally adopted at the first TB summit on September 26, on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly meeting. At New York.

In July, South Africa clashed with the United States over proposals to dilute terms recognizing the right of the poorest countries to access cheaper drugs.

The disputed language referred to the TRIPS trade agreements relating to intellectual property rights. A compromise was found to strengthen references to the TRIPS Agreement.

MSF had backed South Africa's stance and urged countries to resist what they termed "aggressive pressure" from the US pharmaceutical lobby to restrict access to medicines in South Africa. low cost.

At the summit, world leaders will commit to ending the TB epidemic by 2030 and providing $ 13 billion a year to achieve that goal, according to the final 53-point statement.

An additional $ 2 billion will be spent globally to fund tuberculosis research, up from $ 700 million currently.

MSF political advisor Sharonann Lynch said the final declaration was an improvement over the first version, but added that world leaders should be at the top.

"Heads of State must attend the UN High Level Meeting on Tuberculosis and exercise their rights to protect the public health benefits of pharmaceutical companies and upgrade affordable and effective generic versions of anti-TB drugs patented resisters, "said Lynch.

Last year, the World Health Organization sounded the alarm when it declared that tuberculosis had surpassed HIV / AIDS as the number one infectious killer in the world and was the ninth leading cause of death in the world. world.

According to the WHO, an estimated 1.7 million people died of TB in 2016 from 10.4 million people worldwide who have contracted a serious lung infection.

Five countries are the most affected by the TB pandemic: India, which accounts for a quarter of the cases, Indonesia, China, the Philippines and Pakistan.

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