Vatican official opens global TB meeting

(Vatican Radio) A Global Consultation Meeting on the Elimination of Tuberculosis in Countries with a Low Incidence of the Disease got underway on Friday in Rome. The summit is being organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Respiratory Society (ERS).

Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s interview with Dr Mario Raviglione, Director of WHO’s Global TB Programme.

In opening remarks to participants at the two day event Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, President of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, said “it has been rightly observed that Tuberculosis is a disease that affects most the poorest, whether in low- income countries or in high-income settings.”

He added, that “combating this killer disease requires the concerted efforts of  not only the policy makers and the medical world, but also engagement with civil society organizations and communities to create working partnerships.”

To coincide with the meeting both the WHO and ERS have set out a new framework to eliminate tuberculosis (TB) in countries with low levels of the disease.

The proposed agenda builds on approaches that are already proving successful.

Today there are 33 countries and territories, which include the Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean Region, and the Western Pacific Region, where there are fewer than 100 TB cases per million population.

Dr Mario Raviglione, Director  of WHO’s Global TB Programme says that by 2035 they want to see many fewer cases. “What we want with this new framework is to get them down by 2035, so in twenty years to less than ten cases per million population… and we want eventually by 2050 to go down to less than a case per million people…”

He goes on to say that addressing tuberculosis in the context of cross-border migration can pose challenges.

“Of course when you have migration from Africa, from Asia or also from Eastern Europe the former Soviet countries, you have the possibility that these people migrating to Western Europe or North America bring with them the latent dormant infection…”

Dr Raviglione stresses that TB is not a disease of the past, adding that it is present in every country of the world, but it can prevented and cured.

The Global Consultation Meeting on the Elimination of Tuberculosis in Countries with Low Incidences  of the  Disease runs through to July 5^th.

 

Below is the full text of the opening remarks by Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, President of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, at the Global Consultation Meeting on the Elimination of Tuberculosis (TB) in Countries with Low Incidence of the Disease

Honorable Minister,

Distinguished officials of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Respiratory Society (ERS) who have co-organized this consultation.

To you all participants at this important meeting, as President of the Pontifical Council, I feel honored to be present at this global consultation on the elimination of Tuberculosis (TB) in countries with low incidence of Disease, and I therefore thank Dr. Mario Raviglione and his collaborators for the kind invitation to deliver some opening remarks.

Since the World Health Organization’s declaration of tuberculosis as a global health emergency in 1993, several efforts have been launched to realize the Global TB Strategy. These have mainly helped to accelerate the global expansion of tuberculosis care and control, with the result that the goal to “have halted and begun to reverse the incidence of tuberculosis” by 2015 has already been achieved. It has been reported that between 1995 and 2012, 22 million lives were saved and 56 million people were successfully treated for tuberculosis (Cf. A67/11, pars. 7-9). These results are indeed encouraging. However the challenges before us, among which, the number of affected people world-wide, the number of deaths due to tuberculosis, the problem of multidrug-resistance and the HIV-associated tuberculosis, whereby Africa has 75% of the cases, live no room for complacency.  They require more political will, more funding, more research and more concerted efforts and resolve.

It has been rightly observed that Tuberculosis is a disease that affects most the poorest, whether in low- income countries or in high-income settings. In 2012 an estimated 8.6 million cases were reported and 1.3 million people died from tuberculosis. The disease is particularly affecting the most vulnerable people: women, children, migrants, prisoners, homeless and in  a disproportionate way those living with HIV/AIDS. Low income countries in Africa and Eastern Europe will most probably not be able to achieve the 2015 target. These challenges should urge us to boost global action especially in those initiatives that have yielded positive results.

I therefore welcome the post -2015 global strategy for tuberculosis prevention, care and control, from which an “Operational  framework for TB elimination in low incidence settings” has been adapted.  The proposed advocacy in the document and the technical recommendations there in, need to be transformed into effective interventions if they are to serve their purpose. It is my sincere hope that this meeting will pave the way for the realization of these noble goals.

Combating this killer disease requires the concerted efforts of  not only the policy makers and the medical world, but also engagement with civil society organizations and communities to create working partnerships. Faith-based health care institutions that often operate in low income and hard to reach communities, will particularly be remarkable partners in the effort to make tuberculosis care accessible to all who need it.

It is well evident that we are dealing with the less fortunate of society, those who for one reason or another are marginalized, and are for that reason often voiceless. The Church taking from the example of Christ has always had the poor at heart (Evangelii Gaudium, nn. 197-201). Pope Francis in particular is well known for championing the cause of the poor and marginalized, he strongly affirms that “none of us can think that we are exempt from concern for the poor and for social justice (Evangelii Gaudium, n. 201) and he urges us to have a special concern for the poor and weak among us, putting them at the center of our attention, care, reflections and political activism; and also to recognize that care for the poor is demanded not only by charity, but by justice. It is our duty to make the right to health a reality for every citizen.

When it comes to our duty towards the sick and suffering in our society,  I find the strong words of Benedict XIV, both challenging and inspiring: “the true measure of humanity, he says, is essentially determined in relationship to suffering and to the sufferer. This holds true both for the individual and for society. A society unable to accept its suffering members and incapable of helping to share their suffering and to bear it inwardly through “com-passion” is a cruel and inhuman society” (Spe Salvi, 38).

I wish to thank you all for taking to heart the cause of our brothers and sisters who are victims of tuberculosis. Thank you for putting your knowledge, expertise, time, and resources at the service of humanity. Your efforts anchored in compassion for and enhanced by solidarity (Evangelii Gaudium, nn. 189-190) with those whose lives are endangered by tuberculosis, will help to make the post-2015 global TB strategy a true instrument for  the promotion of human health and dignity.

I wish you all successful deliberations. 

Zygmunt Zimowski

President of the Pontifical Council

for Health Care Workers