Inaugural International leadership summit targets to end TB.

By Hamu Madzedze

The Private Sector Provider (PSP) constituency of Stop TB Partnership in collaboration with the Commonwealth Medical Association( CMA) and the Indian Medical Association (IMA) held an inaugural International Leadership Summit of Medical Associations from the 1st to the 2nd of this month in Kochi ,India aimed at coming up with strategies to achieve the United Nations High -Level Meeting 2023 targets to end Tuberculosis(TB) .

In a statement the Stop TB Partnership said the discussions in the meeting focused on the role and contribution of professional medical associations in achieving the targets and commitments of the 2023 UN High Level meeting on TB.

IMA President and Alternate Board Member of Stop TB Partnership Dr RV Asokan said the meeting highlighted how one profession with one voice across several countries can end TB globally.

The Deputy Executive Director of Stop TB Partnership Dr Suvanand Sahu added that there is a need for leaders from different stakeholder groups to eliminate TB.

"It was amazing to see the leadership of professional medical associations discussing issues around TB and issued the Kochi Declaration 2024" said Dr Sahu.

Dr Erlina Burhan ,Board member of Stop TB Partnership representing the Private Sector Provider constituency said this was a landmark meeting which has added a network of committed leaders of the medical profession and private sector health care to the global fight against TB and has expanded PSP constituency.

The targets and commitments of the UN High Level meeting on TB states that by 2027 at least 90% of the estimated number of people who develop TB are reached with quality assured diagnosis and treatment with all those diagnosed having been initially tested with World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended rapid molecular test and supported with complete treatment and at least 90% of people at high risk of developing TB are provided with preventive treatment which translates to providing 45 million people with TB preventive treatment including approximately 30 million household contacts of people with TB including children ,people living with HIV and reaching to people who live in remote geographical regions or areas difficult to access taking into account WHO guidance.

TB is still one of the leading infectious killers and in 2020 10 million people around the world fell ill with TB including 1.1 million children.