Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS and ministerial panel address ending TB deaths among people living with HIV
Leaders at the UN High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS agreed to promote an integrated approach across a range of health issues, including TB, in order to reach the UN Sustainable Development Goal target of ending AIDS by 2030. Scaling up integrated TB and HIV services was also a focus of a ministerial panel held on the sidelines of the High-Level Meeting yesterday.
The UN Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, adopted by heads of government yesterday, calls for the delivery of more integrated TB/HIV services, patient-centred care, and for a 75% reduction in TB deaths among people living with HIV by 2020, aligned with WHO’s End TB Strategy. It also calls for a greater focus on vulnerable TB populations, including accelerating TB case finding among all people living with HIV. The Declaration also underlines the need to eliminate stigma and discrimination faced by people living with HIV and TB.
The ministerial panel on TB/HIV was convened by the World Health Organization and the UN Special Envoy on TB, Dr Eric P. Goosby, in collaboration with the Stop TB Partnership. It brought together ministers from Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Africa, representatives from civil society, and leaders of The Global Fund, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, USAID and PEPFAR, among others.
The panel focused on the opportunity ahead in Sub-Saharan Africa. This region bears the brunt of the dual TB/HIV epidemic, accounting for approximately 74% of the HIV-positive TB cases in 2014, and South Africa has the largest number of HIV-associated TB cases. “We cannot win the fight against AIDS in isolation – and the same applies to TB,” said Aaron Motsoaledi, South Africa’s Minister of Health and Chair of the Stop TB Partnership Coordinating Board. “In South Africa, we ensure that all people tested for HIV are screened for TB. And those with TB also receive an HIV test. If we work together, we can make history by ending TB and HIV/AIDS by 2030.”
New tools are needed to make this possible. Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated: “We shouldn’t allow the lives saved through antiretrovirals to be snatched away by TB. What we need now is research and development to develop an easy point-of-care test that can be used by community health workers. Otherwise we will not be able to end TB.”
Rolling out tools as soon as they become available is essential to dramatically accelerate progress. Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, outlined Nigeria’s plans to expand access to new rapid diagnostics throughout the country to expedite diagnosis of all forms of TB, including HIV-associated TB. “Ultimately, we want to bring healthcare to the doorstep of the people,” he said.
“If we are serious about fast-tracking the AIDS response, we need to significantly scale up our efforts to address TB and HIV co-infection,” said Dr Ren Minghui, WHO Assistant Director-General for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases. “I am optimistic it will be done.”