CSO’s urge Malawi leaders to attend UN’s TB meeting
Buzaalirwa: There are lot of existing gaps
Some Civil Society Organisations (CSO)’s are calling on Malawian leaders to fully participate in the upcoming United Nations High Level Meeting (UNHLM) for Tuberculosis (TB) which will take place in New York on the 22nd of next month.
The upcoming second UNHLM on Tuberculosis is an opportunity for heads of State to undertake a comprehensive review of the achievements of the agreed TB targets set in 2018 and a platform to identify gaps and discuss solutions to accelerate progress towards ending the pandemic.
Director of quality management and medical logistics at Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Africa, Lydia Buzaalirwa, observed that attending the meeting will demonstrate high level of political will and commitment to eradicate the disease.
According to Buzaalirwa, there are lot of existing gaps such as financing and the implementation of universal TB control policies and procedures among others that are hindering the fight against the disease hence the need to attend the meeting.
“One of the key issues that needs to be critically looked into is the funding for tuberculosis to improve diagnosis, treatment, follow up and management both at the community and health facility level,’’ said Buzaalirwa.
Echoing Buzaalirwa’s sentiments is the head of programmes and strategy at Facilitators of Community Transformation (FACT) Aggrey Munthali who observes that failure for Malawi leaders to attend the UN high level meeting will be dire as Malawi could miss out on funding for the implementation of the 2030 end TB strategy.
“The UNHLM provides an opportunity for countries to present progress made, gaps and way forward as well as give room for negotiations for more funding to accelerate efforts towards the fight and eradication of TB,’’ said Munthali.
Tuberculosis has been a health crisis for many decades and remains one of the most urgent global public health issues. Although TB is preventable, the disease is unfortunately the second leading infectious killer before covi19 and the 13th cause of death worldwide.
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