TB and COVID-19
The COVID-19 crisis has made our task even harder. As one leading TB doctor recently said to me, ‘if we were already scaling a mountain to end TB, it just became Everest’. But the need has not gone away. Fighting this new pandemic and fighting TB, an infectious disease which claims 1.5 million lives a year, cannot be alternatives. The quest for stronger healthcare systems, better drugs, vaccines and global health security is one that should unite us.”
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Rt Hon Nick Herbert CBE, Global Co-Chair of the Global TB Caucus
TB and Covid-19 Statement of intent
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On May 29th, the Executive Committee of the Global TB Caucus gathered online to discuss challenges and new directions to take in the fight against TB. Parliamentarians in the Caucus are already facing the challenges posed by COVID-19 in different ways. Many of them are directly involved in the response, due to their leadership positions on the health committees or foreign aid committees and new COVID-19 task forces, where their experience in infectious respiratory diseases has been recognised.
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This meeting was the occasion to share experience, expertise and ideas, to redirect our efforts for a better and more efficient political response to TB. The meeting was concluded by the unanimous adoption of the TB and COVID-19 Statement of Intent. You can find the statement attached below in English, French, Spanish and Russian.
The impact of Covid-19 in TB services
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The following briefing was adapted especially for the Global TB Caucus from the work of Professor Madhukar Pai, MD, PhD, FCAHS, Canada Research Chair in Epidemiology & Global Health, Director, McGill Global Health Programs, Director, McGill International TB Centre. We adapted our work in six languages.
Click the flag to access the briefing in the language you need.