DISTINGUISHED GUESTS,
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:
I am pleased to welcome members of the Technical Advisory Group, national TB managers, laboratory managers, country representatives and partner agencies to the Seventh Stop TB Technical Advisory Group Meeting for the Western Pacific.
The Philippines, as one of the countries spearheading numerous important and novel TB programmes, is the perfect venue for this important meeting. We are honoured to have Dr Jaime Lagahid here with us today.
WHO greatly appreciates the hard work being carried out by national TB programmes in the fight against TB.
As a result of the expansion of quality national TB services— for which many of you in this room can take credit—the number of people living with TB cases in the Western Pacific Region has fallen dramatically over the past 10 years.
And every year, of the more than 1.3 million patients in the Region who are diagnosed with TB, nearly 90% of them are successfully treated.
But TB control programmes in the Region still face significant challenges.
Despite our successes, we estimate that only two thirds of all new cases are detected and offered life saving treatment.
The TB epidemic is often concentrated in vulnerable and marginalized populations that can be difficult to reach and have limited access to health care.
HIV still poses a major threat and has the potential to reverse the gains achieved by TB control efforts.
And, as a region, we have to find more effective ways of addressing multidrug-resistant TB. Over one quarter of the cases of multidrug-resistant TB globally occur in this Region.
We are gathered here to discuss the draft Regional Strategy to Stop Tuberculosis in the Western Pacific Region (2011–2015).
This draft strategy is intended to provide guidance to countries in the development of their national TB control strategies. It is based on an in-depth analysis of TB epidemiology and on the latest technical developments.
Importantly, the draft strategy proposes new diagnostic algorithms and new approaches for intensified case-finding. Actions that are needed to ensure that EVERYONE infected with TB can be detected and offered the hope of cure through timely treatment.
And last, but not least, the strategy proposes ambitious targets for addressing multidrug-resistant TB.
With unprecedented levels of funding for TB control—from both domestic and external sources— countries are facing both opportunities and challenges.
Increased funding provides an opportunity to scale up our efforts in the fight against TB. But increased funding poses challenges in coordinating and managing resources in an effective and sustainable manner.
We hope that your input this week will further strengthen the draft strategy.
I wish you all a productive and successful meeting on this draft strategy as well as the satellite laboratory meeting.
Thank you.