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Remarks by the President of the 78th session of the General Assembly,<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Mr. Dennis Francis,<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n at the\u00a0closing<\/span>\u00a0of the High-Level Meeting on the Fight Against Tuberculosis<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n [As Delivered]<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n 22 September 2023<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n \n \n \n Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,<\/i><\/p>\n We have come to the conclusion of a very successful High-Level Meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n As our discussions today have made abundantly clear, the road to ending tuberculosis requires strengthening health systems and\u00a0multisectoral collaboration<\/b>\u00a0to address the key drivers of the epidemic. We also need to strengthen research and development, supported by sustained financing.<\/span><\/p>\n I am proud of the progress we have made today:<\/span><\/p>\n First and foremost, we approved a\u00a0milestone political declaration<\/b>\u00a0that revitalizes commitments with concrete targets, to ramp up the\u00a0TB<\/span>\u00a0response over the next five years.<\/span><\/p>\n We resolved to strengthen political will and\u00a0promote cooperation with all stakeholders<\/b>, including private sector and civil society, as we strive to implement a comprehensive people-centred response to ensure\u00a0universal access to\u00a0TB<\/span>\u00a0prevention<\/b>\u00a0and care services, including for children.<\/span><\/p>\n We deliberated on\u00a0leveraging lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic<\/b>\u00a0to scale up adequate and sustainable financing for better service delivery, as well as for the research and development of new diagnostics, vaccines and drugs. All of these actions must be based on\u00a0science<\/b>,\u00a0evidence, and best practices.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n We promised to\u00a0integrate human rights<\/b>\u00a0and gender-based approaches, and to address stigma and discrimination in all policies and actions towards ending\u00a0TB<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n And we committed to ensuring\u00a0adequate and predictable financing\u00a0<\/b>to sustain our efforts in the long-term.<\/span><\/p>\n In addition, we held two very fruitful multi-stakeholder panel discussions.<\/span><\/p>\n In panel 1<\/span><\/b>, we recognised that the\u00a0TB<\/span>\u00a0response must be transparent, robust and cover\u00a0all<\/b>\u00a0populations \u2013 I repeat, all populations \u2013 including refugees and migrants. We heard that accountability mechanisms,\u00a0including those<\/b>\u00a0led by civil society<\/b>, are essential. We must close the access gaps that have only widened due to COVID-19, conflict and other disasters.<\/span><\/p>\n In panel 2<\/span><\/b>, we heard that greater domestic and international investment in\u00a0TB<\/span>\u00a0services, including community-based services, would strengthen both the reach and the quality of care. Political will is an important driver of health financing and engagement with parliamentarians is particularly important in this context.<\/span><\/p>\n I commend Member States and stakeholders \u2013 including representatives from civil society, academia, researchers, the private sector, and the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ system \u2013 for your\u00a0active involvement<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n Your presence has truly energized and enriched our discussions today.<\/span><\/p>\n I am encouraged by your inspiring and powerful words, and by your innovative and comprehensive\u00a0suggestions<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n A number of countries shared the\u00a0progress achieved<\/b>\u00a0since the first\u00a0TB<\/span>\u00a0high-level meeting by implementing\u00a0strong and actionable national strategic plans\u00a0<\/b>backed up by adequate funding.<\/span><\/p>\n I applaud your commitment.<\/span><\/p>\n Excellencies,<\/i><\/p>\n \n Before\u00a0closing<\/span>, I would like to\u00a0thank the co-facilitators<\/b>, H.E. Mr. Krzysztof Szczerski, Permanent Representative of Poland; and H.E. Mr. Bakhtiyor Ibragimov, former Permanent Representative of Uzbekistan, for their hard work in leading the intergovernmental negotiations for the political declaration.<\/p>\n \n My deep gratitude also goes to the\u00a0co-chairs of the two multistakeholder panels<\/b>\u00a0\u2013 H.E. Mr. Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Minister of Health of Indonesia, H.E. Ms. Karina Rando, Minister of Public Health of Uruguay, H.E. Dr Kalumbi Shangula, Minister of Health, Namibia, and H.E. Dr. Alexandru Rafila, Minister of Health of Romania \u2013 for their invaluable contribution and time.<\/p>\n Let us join forces to wipe out this millennia-old killer.<\/span><\/p>\n Together, we can\u00a0end<\/b>\u00a0tuberculosis.<\/span><\/p>\n We can\u00a0end<\/b>\u00a0[audience:\u00a0TB<\/span>]<\/span><\/p>\n We can\u00a0end<\/b>\u00a0[audience:\u00a0TB<\/span>]<\/span><\/p>\n I thank you.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Remarks by the President of the 78th session of the General Assembly,\u00a0\u00a0 Mr. Dennis Francis,\u00a0\u00a0 at the\u00a0closing\u00a0of the High-Level Meeting on the Fight Against Tuberculosis [As Delivered] 22 September 2023 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":361,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[111],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-272639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-speeches","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n