The American Thoracic Society has endorsed the release of the new Global Plan to End TB 2016-2020: The Paradigm Shift, a framework that outlines what the world must do to end tuberculosis.
The framework includes ambitious new goals, describes the different responses needed in different regions of the world in order to bend the curve of TB incidence and mortality and provides an estimate of costs and impact of activities on disease burden.
“We congratulate the WHO and the Stop TB Partnership for developing this new plan to tackle the world’s leading infectious disease killer,” the organization said in a statement.
In October, the WHO reported that TB deaths have now surpassed HIV/AIDS deaths. But in order to halt the TB pandemic, we need to change the way we fight this disease. If we commit to change and full implementation of the Global Plan, we can save over 10 million lives, treat 29 million people and prevent 45 million more people from getting TB.
“The Global Plan to End TB’s implementation and success depend on a commitment to change the way TB is funded, including funding for the research and development of new TB diagnostic, treatment and prevention tools,” said ATS President Atul Malhotra, MD. “Every extra dollar invested in TB will have a return as high as $85 if we fully fund the Global Plan.”
Dr. Malhotra continued, “The ATS calls on governments, including the US, to reinvest in TB elimination and research efforts and implement the Global Plan to End TB. The Obama administration has already drafted an ambitious National Action Plan to Combat Drug Resistant TB, both in the US and globally, and we urge its immediate release.”
More information on the plan can be found here.
