Nigeria, some UN Member States, civil society representatives and other stakeholders have approved a declaration to advance efforts to end Tuberculosis (TB) by 2030.
The document lays out ambitious new targets for the next five years that include reaching 90 per cent of people with TB prevention and care services, providing social benefit packages to those who have the disease, and licensing at least one new vaccine.
TB is the second leading infectious killer disease worldwide after COVID-19, with some 1.6 million deaths in 2021 alone, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Also, the only available vaccine for TB is more than a century old.
All the 193 Member States and stakeholders made the political commitment at a high-level meeting on the fight against Tuberculosis at the ongoing 78th of the UN General Assembly.
“Why, after all the progress we have made – from sending man to the moon, to bringing the world to our fingertips – have we been unable to defeat a…