Stop TB Partnership welcomes Canada’s continued support in the fight against TB

Accepting the award at a reception on the eve of the Stop TB Partnership Coordinating Board meeting, which is being held for the first time in Canada, Minister Fantino re-affirmed Canada’s support to fight TB globally.

“Over the past decade, Canada has been a global leader in the fight against TB,” Minister Fantino said. “We are forging a future where TB is a thing of the past and where the most vulnerable can live healthier, safer and fuller lives.”

Canada is a founding donor of the Stop TB Partnership and has been a leading investor in two of its flagship initiatives. The country’s investment in the Global Drug Facility (GDF) has contributed to the delivery of more than 22 million life-saving TB treatments since 2001. TB REACH, launched in 2010 with Canadian funding, targets the estimated three million people a year who get TB but aren’t provided with a proper diagnosis or treatment. Through projects that use innovations such as public-private partnerships, TB REACH has so far found and treated more than 400 000 people whose TB would otherwise have gone undetected.

“Thanks to the people of Canada, millions of lives have been saved and people who would otherwise have been forgotten have received quality TB care,” said Dr. Lucica Ditiu, Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership. “Today, as we reach a critical point in the fight against TB, we recognize this contribution and welcome the Government of Canada’s ongoing support. With global efforts to find people with TB stagnating and the threat of drug-resistant TB looming large, it is innovative investments such as Canada’s that will unite governments, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector in accelerating progress towards an overdue end to TB.”

The award was presented to Minister Fantino ahead of a panel discussion hosted in partnership with the Aga Khan Foundation and RESULTS Canada. The panel included Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, the Minister of Health of South Africa, Dr Mark Dybul, Executive Director, The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Dr Asad Alam, Country Director – South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland, The World Bank, Dr Gonzalo G. Alvarez, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Ottawa, Associate Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and Respirologist at the Department of Medicine at the Ottawa Hospital and Lucica Ditiu, Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership.

The 23rd Stop TB Partnership Coordinating Board meeting, which will be chaired by Dr Amy Bloom of USAID, begins tomorrow. High on the agenda are TB and mining, engagement with the Global Fund, the post-2015 TB strategy and the Global Plan to Stop TB 2016-2020. The Board will also discuss a variety of governance reforms and appoint a new Board Chair.

Source: Stop TB Partnership