On September 16th and 17th, the Global TB Caucus organised the third Americas TB Summit, in Rio de Janeiro. The Summit was hosted by Hon Chico D’Angelo and organized in partnership with the Global Fund. The meeting gave MPs and civil society representatives from across the region an opportunity to discuss accountability and specific actions to reach the targets set by the Political Declaration from the UN High Level Meeting on TB.
Although the Americas is a region with fewest numbers of TB cases, it also is the region with the lowest treatment success rate due to the high loss to follow up of TB cases. Another important challenge is the lack of government prioritisation for TB policies and strategies. Two countries in the region are considered High TB burden countries by WHO, Brazil and Peru. These two days where the occasion to discuss and debate solutions to implement to tackle the disease in the continent.
Amongst the priorities identified by the group, they highlighted the importance of following up the commitments made by governments at the UN HLM on TB in September 2018. Parliamentarians discussed how they can work nationally, regionally and globally to ensure that the promises made by governments aren’t just words, but are put into practice. They agreed on a workplan with actions specifically related to following up to the HLM on TB and
accountability at national level. After internal discussions, partners and civil society focal points joined the meeting for a session on identifying regional and international opportunities to advocate for TB and TB related policies.
Civil society representatives presented in two sessions: Research and Development for TB and the importance of close collaboration between Caucus MPs and the national focal points. After both presentations, MPs and civil society discussed the need for a joint collaboration for the TB response which could come out from better communications among all stakeholders engaged in the fight against TB. Parliamentarians committed to using their positions to provide this platform in their countries.
Afterwards, Scott Boule (Senior Specialist, Parliamentary Affairs) and Paul Bonilla (Sustainability and Transition Specialist) presented on the state of affairs of the Global Fund replenishment campaign, showing the pledges made until that moment, what the Fund expects and the importance of this funding for the fight against TB. Responsible for 65% of all international resources designated to tackle TB, the Global Fund hopes to raise USD 14bn for the next three-year cycle at their October replenishment conference.
Before closing the event with the signature of the political declaration on TB, Professor Brian Citro, from Northwestern University held a session to follow up on a regional workshop he made in 2018 on law and TB at the third Global TB Summit, in the Hague. Parliamentarians then agreed on the outcomes of the session and together signed an ambitious declaration.