After Hon. Chico D’Angelo visited Argentina earlier in the month, it was time for Hon. Gisela Scaglia to travel to Brazil joining efforts to contribute to the G20 Leaders’ Declaration, considering global commitments made to end the TB epidemic.
The delegation started by meeting with the G20 Health Working Group and the National TB Program Manager and Director at the Brazilian Ministry of Health. The discussions around the G20 were very clarifying to understand Japan’s (holding the G20 presidency this year) position and priorities. The Brazilian health working group (HWG) team is preparing an intervention on TB, HIV, Malaria and Polio for the G20 leaders’ summit and the HWG team was very welcoming of the Global TB Caucus (GTBC) suggestions for the Heads of State Communique language. They showed their will to push for stronger commitments around TB.
This encounter was also the opportunity to talk about the High-Level meeting on TB and its meaning for Brazil. Government representatives mentioned their efforts to launch an inter ministerial committee to follow up with global targets and to set up in-country strategies and policies to reach commitments agreed in the global scenario.
The delegation also met with the G20 Finance track leads, Secretary Arivaldo Gomes and sub-secretary Marco Aurelio Rocha, on another occasion for Hon. Scaglia to present the reasons why TB should be mentioned within the finance track. She presented the suggestions from the GTBC to the Shared Understanding Document, an agreement on financing for Universal Health Coverage, that will be endorsed by the G20 Ministers of Finance and Health.
At last, the delegation met with Ambassador Norberto Moretti, G20 Sherpa, and his team. This meeting was very successful. The MPs and the Ambassador exchanged about their work with the Caucus. The Sherpa committed to pushing for more Research & Development language on the Declaration and for prioritising TB in the discussions. Participants also discussed TB within the BRICS and Brazilian authorities committed to using the BRICS connections to push for TB within the G20.