Secretary-General's remarks on HIV/TB Global Leaders' Forum

President Sampaio,

Excellencies,

It is an honour to welcome you all to this HIV/TB Global Leaders Forum. It is the first time we are brought together -- Heads of State, UN officials, civil society leaders, media, technical agencies and the private sector -- to discuss how we can work together to better address the interlinked epidemics of HIV and tuberculosis.

Key to our collective mission is leadership at the highest level. Let me start by commending my Special Envoy, President Jorge Sampaio, for his advocacy and insight. Dr Sampaio has worked tirelessly for the past two years to raise the profile of tuberculosis on national and international development agendas. Crucially, he has focused on the new threats of TB/HIV co-infection and drug resistant TB, and on the challenges in the African region.

Today, tuberculosis is one of the top 10 leading causes of death globally, causing more than 4000 deaths every day. This is shocking: no one should die of TB, a preventable and curable disease, in this prosperous and technology-rich 21st century.

TB is also a leading cause of death among people living with HIV, and the most common cause of death in HIV-positive people in Africa. Yet there is not nearly enough investment in TB control, or in research into preventing, diagnosing and treating TB in people living with HIV. This offers us very few options for treating drug resistance, and little chance of eliminating TB deaths.

Despite the fact that HIV and TB frequently occur in the same one person, we continue to deal with the two diseases separately. Fewer than one third of all people living with HIV and TB worldwide received appropriate treatment for both diseases in 2007. We are therefore missing crucial opportunities to provide comprehensive and more effective services. The consequences are grave for infected individuals, their family, friends and community.

This is why it is so important that many countries have plans to address TB and HIV jointly. More of these plans must now be translated into action on the ground. This requires more collaboration between sectors, better coordination between actors, greater investment in TB research and control, and strengthened health systems.

The United Nations is committed to making this happen. TB, like HIV, cuts across the entire spectrum of our work –from peace and security to development and human rights. I hope this meeting will mobilize us into taking bold action together.

Thank you very much.