The Lancet: The upcoming U.N. general assembly resolution on tuberculosis must also benefit children
Anne K. Detjen, health specialist for childhood tuberculosis at UNICEF, and colleagues

“… The Child and Adolescent TB Working Group of the Stop TB Partnership proposes that countries commit to the following targets [at the U.N. High-Level Meeting on TB in September] … (1) by 2019, all states have established an inter-ministry task force and developed a funded action plan to address child tuberculosis comprehensively across maternal, child, and adolescent populations; (2) by 2022, 90 percent of children with household exposure to an infectious tuberculosis case … receive preventive therapy each year; (3) by 2022, 90 percent of children with tuberculosis and MDR tuberculosis are diagnosed…, given appropriate treatment, and reported to national tuberculosis programs; and (4) from 2018, countries steeply increase their research funding to address the needs of children, especially for research towards the development of new child-friendly diagnostics, treatments, and an improved vaccine” (3/23).

Baltimore Sun: ‘TB anywhere is a threat to people everywhere’
Allison Berkowitz, adjunct instructor at Simmons College

“…There are two line items in the Department of State USAID requests that will go a long way toward eradicating TB. The first is … for bilateral tuberculosis; and the second is … for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria. Please urge all our Maryland representatives in the U.S. House and our two U.S. senators to champion these two critical line items in the fight against TB. … This money can help prevent the senseless deaths of 1.7 million people internationally and the suffering of 9,200 Americans, several hundred here in Maryland, who require TB treatment each year. They can do it, but they need to hear from us, so please help” (3/25).

HuffPost: We Can Cure Tuberculosis If World Leaders Step Up
Ambassador Eric Goosby, U.N. secretary general’s special envoy on tuberculosis

“…As we head toward the [U.N. High-Level Meeting (UNHLM)] on TB, I am honored to be co-chairing the Lancet Commission on TB, which is working to issue recommendations on how to put the world on a path to defeating the disease. The commission is focused on four areas for action. First, we must ensure implementation of evidence-based strategies to combat the disease. … Second, it is critical that we invest in TB research and development. … Third, significant resources must be dedicated to implement strategies to end TB. … Finally, we must address the serious social, financial, and clinical barriers to care that undermine TB control efforts… It is also my hope that between now and the UNHLM in September, all who care about ending TB use their voices to demand that their leaders act. … Let us seize [this moment] and build a TB-free world once and for all…” (3/24).

PLOS Medicine: Time for high-burden countries to lead the tuberculosis research agenda
Madhukar Pai, director of Global Health Programs at McGill University and associate director of the McGill International TB Centre

“…The world cannot depend on a few wealthy countries with very low TB incidence to support all the research that is required to tackle TB. High-burden, middle-income countries with high TB rates must step up. They have the potential to transform the global TB research agenda through increased domestic funding, collaborative networks, and transnational research partnerships. By taking the lead on TB research, high-burden countries not only can meet their own national strategic plan goals but can also take a leading step towards fulfilling the commitment to end the TB epidemic, with targets to reduce TB deaths by 95 percent and to reduce TB incidence rate by 90 percent between 2015 and 2035” (3/23).

HuffPost: It’s Time For The World’s Leaders To Support The Fight Against Tuberculosis
Brenda Shanahan, Dean Allison, and Mobina Jaffer, members of the Global Health Caucus on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Canada

“…[O]n Sept. 26, 2018 the United Nations (U.N.) will host a High-Level Meeting (HLM) on TB. … March 24 is World TB Day, which marks the kick-off to a global campaign — Wanted: Leaders for a TB-Free World. Canada’s all-party parliamentary Global Health Caucus on HIV/AIDS, TB, and Malaria are great examples of leaders who are working hard to make a TB-free world a reality. The caucus is made up of parliamentarians who are champions for the eradication of TB in Canada and across the globe. … [T]he caucus has been working to help build the necessary political momentum in Canada and around the world to end TB for good. … This is the kind of leadership we need to end TB…” (3/23).