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The Union joins organisations pushing for increased attention and commitment to TB

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As the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly convenes in New York, side events are taking place in the build up to the UN High-Level Meeting on tuberculosis later this week,

As the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly convenes in New York, side events are taking place in the build up to the UN High-Level Meeting on tuberculosis (TB) later this week.

José Luis Castro, speaking at the launch of the Roadmap towards Ending TB in Children and Adolescents on Monday, shared The Union’s three objectives for child TB: developing solutions to scale up treatment for children exposed to TB, improving case management for children, and ensuring children are included in clinical trials for new TB tools.

The roadmap, a collaboration between 11 leading health agencies and organisations including The Union, serves as a guide for countries, agencies and civil society to formulate health strategies and implement programmes.

At a side-event on TB and human rights, speakers discussed obstacles in access to prevention, treatment and care that stem from TB-associated stigma and discrimination.

The Union’s Director of Research and Development, Dr I.D. Rusen, shared several concrete ways in which The Union is taking a human-rights based approach to strengthening TB care and prevention efforts globally, such as advocacy for children and community engagement in clinical trials like STREAM, which ensures patients remain central to the research. He also discussed the human-rights focus of the upcoming Union World Conference on Lung Health which will centre debate around the theme ‘Declaring our Rights: Social and Political Solutions’.  

The session, organised by the Open Society Foundation, featured leaders from key global institutions, including the Stop TB Partnership, the Global Fund and The Rt Hon Nick Herbert (Co-Chair of the Global TB Caucus), as well as technical agencies and partners.

The events all build momentum towards the UN HLM on TB, where TB stakeholders from all sectors are pushing for participation from the highest levels of government – hoping that world leaders make concrete commitments to action following the political declaration that will result.

Read more about the HLM and get involved.