TB Europe Coalition: Europe cannot afford inaction on tuberculosis
A new report by the TB Europe Coalition, “After Aid: What is next for TB and HIV in Europe”, illustrates the potentially devastating impact of donor withdrawal on a range of countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where the tuberculosis and HIV epidemics are still problematic.
Alarming new data: 75 million people could lose their lives and the global economy could lose €15,6 trillion by 2050 if the rise of MDR-TB is left unchecked.
Launch of new report: Key international donors are withdrawing support to TB programmes in the region to refocus aid on lower-income countries.
Key upcoming political opportunity: When the Latvian Presidency of the EU hosts a Ministerial meeting to address TB and MDR-TB in Europe on 30-31st March in Riga, European ministers must seize the opportunity and devise regional political strategies to address drug resistance and sustain investments in health systems.
March 24, 2015 (Brussels, Belgium) – For World TB Day, the TB Europe Coalition is alarmed by startling new data predicting that, by 2050, 75 million people could lose their lives to multi drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) at a cost of €15.6 trillion to the global economy—the equivalent of the entire annual economic output of the European Union.
These projections were originally produced for the independent Review on Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR), and are now published in a report by the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global TB (APPG-TB). They represent the first time the future global impact of drug-resistant TB has been estimated, projecting just how deadly and costly the rise of drug-resistant TB could become if decisive action isn’t taken to stop its spread.
“This potential scenario is intolerable, but it is not inevitable. If leaders, including European ones, give TB the political attention it requires, this nightmare scenario will never become reality,” said Fanny Voitzwinkler, Coordinator of the TB Europe Coalition.
These predictions are all the more worrying for Europe, given that the region bears 25% of the global MDR-TB burden, and that TB and MDR-TB already cost European economies an astonishing €6 billion a year.
Europe’s response to drug resistance is further complicated by the fact that many key international donors are withdrawing support from TB programmes in European countries to refocus efforts on lower-income countries with a higher disease burden.
A new report by the TB Europe Coalition, “After Aid: What is next for TB and HIV in Europe”, illustrates the potentially devastating impact of this trend on people affected by TB, and on the spread of drug resistance. For instance, donor withdrawal will result in weakened civil society and community organisations, which are central to ensuring access to treatment for vulnerable groups. Additionally, it raises the concern that both pricing of and access to urgently needed TB and MDR-TB drugs will worsen.
“I am very worried. I had to leave my native Romania to undergo treatment in the UK as adequate treatment was not available for me. I fear for those Romanians battling with MDR-TB who will not have access to drugs because of donor cuts,” says Marina, a former MDR-TB patient.
Next week’s Ministerial Meeting in Riga therefore represents a historic opportunity for European ministers to prioritize a political solution to drug-resistant TB, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has already called a “public health emergency.”
“There is an urgent need for concrete and concerted efforts by donors, EU institutions, and affected countries to develop sustainability roadmaps to address the decrease of international donor funding to the region and ensure an effective transition to domestic funding. The Riga meeting is a key opportunity and we are pleased that the new EU Health Commissioner will be with us to support our efforts to push the agenda forward for TB elimination in Europe. It is time for the European Institutions to renew support to member states in their efforts to make TB history” says Lucica Ditiu, Executive Director of the UN STOP TB Partnership.
The new TB Europe Coalition report, along with the alarming figures raised in the APPG TB report on AMR, clearly show that this continued lack of EU leadership is unacceptable. As Jim O’Neil, Chairman of the independent UK review on anti-microbial resistance points out: “The rising global burden of MDR-TB and other drug-resistant infections will come at a human and economic cost which the global community simply cannot afford to ignore.”
Editors Notes:
The TB Europe Coalition is an informal advocacy network of non-governmental organisations and individuals that share a commitment to raising awareness of TB and to increasing the political will to control the diseases throughout the WHO European Region and worldwide; www.tbcoalition.eu
Source: TB Europe Coalition