Your Excellencies,
Minister Masebo,
Vice Minister Dr Maciel;
Deputy Minister Setiaji,
Deputy Administrator Dr Gawande,
Executive Director Dr Ditiu,
My colleagues Dr Hans Kluge, Dr Tereza Kasaeva,
Excellencies, Ministers, Heads of Delegation, Ambassadors, dear colleagues and friends,
Over the past 20 years, we have made significant progress in the fight against tuberculosis.
74 million more people are now able to access TB services.
But major disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic and other global crises have reversed progress in many countries.
10.6 million people fell ill with TB in 2021, and nearly half a million people fell ill with drug resistant TB, while the number of people able to access diagnosis and treatment fell.
The focus of this meeting is how we can get back on track.
We have new and powerful tools to combat TB, including rapid molecular tests, which reduce testing times from three days to less than two hours;
And new all-oral treatment regimens for drug-resistant TB that reduce treatment times from eighteen months to six months.
These are game changers for diagnosis and treatment, and both are now becoming widely available in more than 100 countries.
We have a major political opportunity this year when world leaders meet in New York for the second High-Level Meeting on TB.
WHO is calling on leaders to commit to concrete targets:
First, to reach 90 percent of people with TB prevention and care;
Second, to use the WHO-recommended rapid test as the first method of diagnosis;
Third, to provide social benefits packages to people with TB so they don't endure financial hardship;
And fourth, to license at least one new TB vaccine.
To accomplish these goals, we need to close the funding gaps for TB care and invest in research and innovation.
Earlier this year WHO also established a TB Vaccine Acceleration Council, to facilitate the development, licensing and equitable use of new TB vaccines.
At the same time, we need to address the drivers of TB: poverty, malnutrition, diabetes, HIV, tobacco and alcohol use, poor living and working conditions, stigma and discrimination, and more.
I created the Civil Society Taskforce on TB to advise us on addressing these issues and Blessina is a member of that task force and a recent chair, actually.
I thank all partners here today for your collaboration and engagement.
Only by working together can we turn the tide against this ancient killer.
I thank you.