2017

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First Global Ministerial Conference on Tuberculosis Convenes in Moscow

The first World Health Organization (WHO) Global Ministerial Conference on Tuberculosis convened in Moscow, Russia on Nov.16 and 17. More than 100 countries participated in the historic conference entitled, “Ending TB in the Sustainable development Era: A Multisectoral Response.” ATS Past-President Phil Hopewell, MD, represented the Society.

Opened by Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin, the conference culminated in the signing of the Moscow Declaration to End TB, a historic commitment to accelerate progress against TB agreed to by 75 countries. The Declaration commits signing countries to the following four overall goals:

  • Advancing the TB response within the Sustainable Development Goals agenda;
  • Ensuring sufficient and sustainable financing;
  • Pursuing science, research and innovation;
  • Developing a multi-sectoral accountability framework.
The declaration calls for a global scale up of TB prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care aimed at achieving universal health coverage, and urges expansion in multi-disciplinary TB research and innovation. It calls on countries to address multi-drug resistant (MDR)-TB as a global public health crisis through a national emergency response in all MDR-TB high-burden countries.

The Moscow conference and declaration mark growing global momentum to accelerate progress against TB. The Moscow Declaration will be used to inform and build on this momentum to achieve political commitment for the first-ever United National High-Level Meeting in TB in September 2018. The ATS welcomed the Moscow Declaration.
Last Reviewed: November 17, 2017