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More than 100 MPs and Peers have today written to the Prime Minister urging her to make tackling tuberculosis (TB) a priority, warning that without urgent action the disease will claim 28 million lives globally by 2030 at a cost to the world economy of £700 billion.
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TB was thought to have been beaten with the advent of antibiotics, but the disease resurged in the 1980s on the back of the AIDS epidemic. It is now the world’s deadliest infectious disease, killing 1.7 million people a year, more than AIDS and malaria combined. There is no adult vaccine, and lethal drug resistant strains of the disease are rising.
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The letter, which has been signed by MPs and Peers from all parties, has been organised by the All-Party Group on Global TB which is led by Tory MP Nick Herbert and Labour MP Virendra Sharma. Senior Conservatives, including the former International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell and former Chancellor Ken Clarke have backed the call.n
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The MPs urge the Prime Minister to attend a High Level Meeting on TB which will be held at the UN General Assembly in New York in September and to support new action to tackle the disease. They say that “As a major global player in both international development and pharmaceutical research, the UK has a powerful potential role in galvanising action and showing the leadership which the world needs to beat TB.”
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Herbert co-chairs the Global TB Caucus alongside South African Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi. The international network of 2,400 parliamentarians who have committed to fight TB is credited with elevating the profile of the disease which has in the past been overlooked in comparison with AIDS and malaria, successfully lobbying for action at the G20 and G7.
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Pressure is steadily rising to take more action on TB. In November the World Health Organisation convened 79 Ministers of Health at a summit in Moscow to step up action on the disease. Last month, leading UK academics warned the Prime Minister that “current global efforts [to fight TB] remain catastrophically insufficient”.
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Next week, Herbert and Sharma will convene a meeting in New York of over 40 MPs representing every region of the world to help prepare the ground for the UN meeting in September and put pressure on heads of government to attend.
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The UK is the second largest contributor to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, malaria and TB, committing over £1 billion between 2017-2019. Last week the International Development Secretary, Penny Mordaunt, pledged to “redouble efforts in the fight” against TB, malaria and AIDS, saying that “in Global Britain we will take a stronger lead in ensuring Global Health Security”. The UK has led global efforts against the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), with a report by Lord O’Neill, the former Goldman Sachs economist and Treasury minister, warning that TB would account for a quarter of a projected 300 million AMR associated deaths by 2050.
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Nick Herbert said: “The Government has shown tremendous leadership on global health, as we can see from their advocacy of the drug resistance agenda and the commitments they made on malaria last week. Now we’re asking for the Prime Minister’s support to tackle the biggest killer of all, TB, which has been relatively neglected. Her presence at the UN High-Level Meeting in September would send a powerful message to her fellow global leaders about the need for action. It would be a fine example of the Government’s agenda for a Global Britain”.
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FULL TEXT OF LETTER
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Dear Prime MinisternnnWe are writing to draw your attention to the forthcoming UN High Level Meeting on Tuberculosis in New York on 26 September 2018 and to encourage the UK Government to make ending TB a priority during this global year of action.nnnAs you know, TB remains the world’s deadliest infectious disease, killing 1.7 million people a year. As the only major drug-resistant infection to be transmitted by air, and the cause of one third of all antimicrobial resistance associated deaths, drug-resistant TB is a key element of the threat posed by AMR.nnnWhile the UK remains a TB hotspot in Europe, countries all over the world are struggling to contain an escalating epidemic, including many of our key allies in the Commonwealth and the G20. TB programmes remain under-resourced, and we lack the tools needed to prevent, diagnose and treat the disease effectively.nnnThe UK can be proud of its record to date. Our investment in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and TB has saved millions of lives. We continue to act as a global leader on AMR, and UK institutions are at the forefront of TB research.nnnHowever, at the current rate of progress, the world will not reach the Sustainable Development Goal target of ending TB by 2030 for another 160 years. Without a major change of pace, 28 million people will die needlessly before 2030, at a global economic cost of £700 billion.nnnFollowing recognition at last year’s G7, G20 and BRICS summits, as well as a WHO ministerial meeting on TB in November, the UN High Level Meeting offers an unprecedented opportunity to turn the tide against this terrible disease. The UN General Assembly’s Resolution “Encourages all Member States to participate in the High Level Meeting … at the highest possible level, preferably at the level of Heads of State and Government”.nnnWe appreciate the very great pressures on your time. Nevertheless, we urge you to attend the UN High Level Meeting in person and support the proposed declaration. As a major global player in both international development and pharmaceutical research, the UK has a powerful potential role in galvanising action and showing the leadership which the world needs to beat TB.
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SIGNATURES (116)
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The Rt Hon Nick Herbert CBE MP and Virendra Sharma MP
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(Co-Chairs of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global TB)
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Sir David Amess MPnnJonathan Ashworth MPnnThe Baroness BarkernnRt Hon Hilary Benn MPnnBob Blackman MPnnDr Roberta Blackman-Woods MP nnThe Rt Hon the Baroness BlackstonennSir Peter Bottomley MPnnRt Hon Tom Brake MPnnJack Brereton MPnnAlan Brown MP
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Fiona Bruce MP nnChris Bryant MPnnRichard Burden MPnnRuth Cadbury MP
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Rt Hon Alistair Carmichael MPnnRt Hon Kenneth Clarke QC MP
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Rosie Cooper MPnnRt Hon Stephen Crabb MPnnAlex Cunningham MPnnNic Dakin MPnnChris Davies MPnnMartyn Day MPnnSteve Double MPnnDr David Drew MPnnRt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP nnPhilip Dunne MP
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Nigel Evans MP nnJim Fitzpatrick MPnnYvonne Fovargue MPnnThe Baroness Gardner of ParkesnnRuth George MPnnStephen Gethins MPnnPreet Gill MPnnThe Baroness Golding nnKate Green MPnnRt Hon Damian Green MP
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Andrew Gwynne MPnnHelen Hayes MPnnLady Hermon MP nnAdam Holloway MPnnEddie Hughes MPnnAlister Jack MPnnChristine Jardine MP
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Diana Johnson MP
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Gillian Keegan MPnnPeter Kyle MPnnBen Lake MP nnJohn Lamont MPnnPauline Latham MPnnJeremy Lefroy MPnnIan Lidell-Grainger MP nnThe Baroness Lister of BurtersettnnCaroline Lucas MP
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Angus MacNeil MPnnSeema Malhotra MPnnScott Mann MPnnThe Baroness Masham of Ilton DLnnRachael Maskell MPnnStuart C McDonald MPnnKerry McCarthy MP
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Anna McMorrin MP nnSandy Martin MPnnMark Menzies MP nnRt Hon Maria Miller MPnnRt Hon Andrew Mitchell MPnnLayla Moran MP nnAnne Marie Morris MPnnGrahame Morris MPnnIan Murray MP nnThe Rt Hon the Baroness NorthovernnNeil O’Brien MP nnMark Pawsey MP nnRt Hon Sir Mike Penning MP nnJohn Penrose MPnnRebecca Pow MPnnVictoria Prentis MPnnThe Lord Purvis of TweednnMarie Rimmer MPnnDouglas Ross MPnnLloyd Russell-MoylennAndrew Selous MP nnJim Shannon MPnnThe Baroness Sheehan
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Tommy Sheppard MP nnTulip Siddiq MPnnTanmanjeet Singh Dhesi MPnnAndy Slaughter MPnnRt Hon Sir Nicholas Soames MP nnAlex Sobel MP nnRt Hon John Spellar MP nnThe Baroness Stern CBE nnIain Stewart MPnnJulian Sturdy MPnnThe Baroness Suttie nnRt Hon Sir Desmond Swayne MPnnThe Lord Swinfen nnGareth Thomas MPnnRt Hon Stephen Timms MP nnJustin Tomlison MPnnThe Baroness TongennDavid Tredinnick MP nnThe Lord TreesnnAnna Turley MPnnStephen Twigg MPnnMartin Vickers MPnnThe Baroness WalmsleynnThe Lord Watson of InvergowriennCatherine West MP nnMartin Whitfield MP nnDr Paul Williams MPnnDr Sarah Wollaston MPnnWilliam Wragg MPnnDaniel Zeichner MP
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