Just a few years ago, the end of the TB epidemic was seen as a distant aspiration.

But political support at the highest level has brought the goal of ending TB much closer. 

There has been significant progress since the UN high-level meeting on TB in 2018.

Yet today the COVID-19 crisis threatens to reverse those gains.

TB remains the world’s top infectious killer, claiming millions of lives each year.

We need to urgently step up the response to end the suffering and deaths caused by this preventable and curable disease.

To tackle TB, we must face the social drivers of the disease. We must work across sectors and link our efforts to the broader global health agenda, including to achieve universal health coverage, and to the sustainable development agenda.

Tuberculosis provides a critical opportunity to build a health infrastructure capable of not only preventing, diagnosing and treating TB, but of promoting and protecting the broader health and well‑being of entire communities.

We have seen this in action during the COVID-19 pandemic, with national TB programmes and systems leveraging support to the COVID-19 response.

We are mid-way towards reaching the 2022 targets outlined in the political declaration of the UN High Level Meeting.

Inclusive and ambitious partnerships will be critical -- across ministries, agencies, civil society and stakeholders from both the public and private sectors.

And leadership will be an absolute imperative.

The United Nations stands firmly behind you as we strive to fulfil our common vision of ending TB.

Thank you.