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The UN and UN member states agreed Friday on a global plan to intensify the fight against tuberculosis, the leading cause of death among infectious diseases.
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. 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.
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 supported South Africa's position and urged countries to resist what it called "aggressive pressure" from the US pharmaceutical lobby to restrict access to low-cost medicines.
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 TB 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 and expensive resisters. Last year, the World Health Organization sounded the alarm when it declared that tuberculosis had overtaken HIV / AIDS as the world's leading infectious disease and was the ninth leading cause of death in the 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.
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