Multi-drug Resistant TB
Campaign
Following the first-ever United Nations High-Level Meeting on TB, held on 26 September 2018, the Global TB Caucus, the South Africa TB Caucus and the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC), planned to convene the Cape Town TB Summit in March 2020, to gather efforts to reach the TB targets agreed by Heads of States in the HLM Political Declaration.
The first Cape Town TB Summit was to bring together up to 40 members of the Global TB Caucus network from high MDR-TB Burden Countries and key TB Burden Countries in which MDR-TB could become a public health emergency in the near future. This was to provide an opportunity to measure progress made so far, and to agree on a coordinated parliamentary plan to ensure countries deliver on commitments to tackling MDR-TB.
Unfortunately, due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, the Cape Town TB Summit has been postponed. However, with over 32 MPs committed to attending and participating in the Summit, we decided to launch an online campaign to further political engagement in the topic until the Summit could be rearranged.
With the campaign we hope to:
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Ensure continued political engagement with MDR-TB on the political agenda;
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Ensure continued prioritisation of MDR TB during the challenges of the Covid epidemic, and take immediate steps;
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Provide the MPs with advocacy tools to achieve the goals set by the HLM MDR-TB targets