November 2022

Media Resource Pack for The Union Conference

BACKGROUND

The Union Conference 2022 focuses on combating lung health pandemics. Tuberculosis (TB) is a major respiratory disease and one of the world’s leading infectious diseases. The 2022 Global TB report reveals that TB is the second leading infectious killer after COVID-19, despite it being preventable, treatable, and curable. TB had been the number one killer until the COVID-19 pandemic. Disruptions to the provision of and access to TB diagnostic and treatment services due to COVID-19 are estimated to have caused an increase of about 100 000 in the number of TB deaths between 2019 and 2020 (an increase from 1.2 million to 1.3 million in HIV-negative people, with about 5,000 additional TB deaths among HIV-positive people). More than 10 million people globally were ill with TB in 2021. 

For children, TB is worse and requires urgent attention. Statistics from the WHO TB report show that while children account for 11% of the TB burden, most remain undiagnosed and untreated. Without a diagnosis, many children with TB become extremely ill and die.   

Less than half of the slightly more than one million children suspected to have TB were diagnosed in 2021 and only 40% of the UN target of 4 million children by 2022 under the age of five were offered preventive treatment. For the target on treating children with multidrug resistant TB, a paltry 15% were treated in the 2018 – 2021 period. One of every 10 children living with HIV died due to TB pointing to TB HIV co-infection as a major challenge for children impacted by TB. 

INTERVENTION 

To tackle the crisis of childhood TB, EGPAF implemented the catalyzing pediatric TB (CaP-TB) project funded by Unitaid, which provided recommendations to help find, prevent, and effectively treat children with TB in nine sub-Saharan African countries and India. 

RESULTS  

  • In the sites where the project was implemented, the number of children diagnosed with TB on a monthly basis increased by about a half and slightly more than 11,000 children were diagnosed. Of these 10,834, representing 98% of children eligible for treatment were treated for active TB and 90% of them achieving treatment success. 
  • About 29,000 children were initiated on TB preventive treatment, representing a four-fold increase with an increase in completion rates from 68.4% to 93.8%. 

 

RESEARCH FINDINGS 

 

OTHER RESOURCES 

Press releases and quotes 

Cameroon childhood TB study: Number of children diagnosed with TB increased 10-fold when TB care services were integrated into existing childcare units. 

 “Children with TB must be identified quickly, and put on treatment before they become extremely ill. Children, especially those with HIV or under 5 years of age are more likely to develop active TB. This is a big step, as without diagnosis, many children with TB are at risk of dying.” Dr Léonie SIMO, Cameroon Implementation Manager for CaP-TB Project 

 To end AIDS in children, we must confront the ever present health crisis of childhood TB  

 “As an organization committed to ending AIDS in children, CaP-TB has clearly demonstrated that in order to achieve an AIDS-free generation, we must confront and end the clear and ever-present health crisis of childhood TB. To succeed in giving children a heathy start in life we must heighten efforts to find and treat TB early.” EGPAF President and CEO Chip Lyons.  

“Children have been neglected by the TB response for far too long. Unitaid and EGPAF have proven an effective package of tools and strategies that can reach children at-risk with prevention and treatment. Implemented widely, these models have the potential to avert countless cases of illness and deaths from TB.” Dr. Philippe Duneton, Executive Director of Unitaid.   

 

African Union and WHO urge swift action against Childhood tuberculosis  

 “Childhood tuberculosis doubled with malnutrition poses major health challenges in the ‎African Union Member States. Undernourished children with tuberculosis are susceptible to developing ‎extensive and severe complications. There is an urgent need for innovative interventions to integrate ‎tuberculosis diagnosis in nutrition programmes to identify the disease ‎in children quickly.”  H.E Minata Samate Cessouma, Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social ‎Development, African Union Commission. 

“The epidemic of tuberculosis among children in Africa has been occurring in the shadows and has until now been largely ignored. We hope this call will galvanize action and ensure no child in Africa is lost to a disease, which in many parts of the world is now history. “Strong political leadership, accountability, financial support and global solidarity are critically needed to increase access to effective diagnostics, medications, vaccines and other tools for tuberculosis control.”‎ Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. 

“One child dies of tuberculosis somewhere in the world every two minutes even though tuberculosis is curable and preventable. Children with tuberculosis are almost never spreading the disease and are always infected by an adult, so their suffering is a metric of our failures to diagnose and treat tuberculosis in children.” Dr Lucica Ditiu, Executive Director of Stop TB Partnership.  

 

Photos

Available on request 

 

Contacts for further information / interviews request