Technical Reports | June 2021

Call to Action 2.0

A global drive to scale up TB prevention
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Overview

TB remains a major cause of disease and death worldwide. TB prevention can save lives and alleviate suffering but is often neglected. The UN-HLM commitments to end TB include a drive to start on TB preventive treatment at least 4 million contacts under 5 years of age and 20 million older contacts, as well as 6 million people living with HIV by the end of 2022. While the target for people living with HIV is expected to have been achieved in 2020, about 22 million contacts have yet to be reached.

Providing TB preventive treatment to reach targets by 2022 will require a massive scale-up of efforts and larger investment. This becomes more relevant given the disruptions in TB care delivery, supply chains and other programme activities due to COVID-19, which add to the urgency. The UN Secretary General in his 2020 Progress Report on TB called for prioritizing and dramatically scaling up access to TB preventive treatment and stronger multisectoral action. It is now urgent for countries and partners to undertake a systematic and invigorated drive to boost the evaluation of people at risk of TB and increase access to TB preventive treatment and other preventive actions.

WHO, civil society and other partners are therefore joining forces to make a strong Call To Action for access to TB preventive treatment to those in need, urging governments to undertake the actions detailed in this report over the next 18 months.

Country:

Global

Topics:

Tuberculosis