Partnership proposes $2.6B to stop, treat tuberculosis

The Stop TB Partnership launched an update to its plan to end tuberculosis that includes billions in annual funding.

The partnership’s Global Plan to End TB 2018-2022 calls for $2.6 billion per year for the research and development of new tuberculosis (TB) diagnostic tools, new drug regimens, and a new vaccine. It also sets aside $13 billion per year for TB care and prevention.

If the plan is fully funded and implemented, it will put 40 million people on treatment for TB, including 3.5 million children and 1.5 million people with drug-resistant TB. That effort will lead to 1.5 million fewer deaths from the disease. Also, the return on investment will be $44 for every $1 spent.

On the other hand, a five-year delay in increasing funding for TB research and development would lead to some 2 million more people dying from the disease, according to the partnership. Further, it would lead to an additional 13.9 million people developing TB.

“The coming three years, up to 2022, will be important for the TB Community at large. This is when we make it or break it. The good news is that we have what is needed to make it, including country targets as shares of the UNHLM TB targets. As incoming chairperson of the Stop TB Board, I will do my best to have this plan implemented, executed & funded,” Luiz Mandetta, Brazil Minister of Health and Chairperson of the Stop TB Partnership Board, said.