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Ahead of this week’s historic parliamentary debate on ‘Ending Tuberculosis’ in the House of Commons Chamber, Nick Herbert MP and Virendra Sharma MP have jointly written of the UK Government’s ‘moral duty to lead the way on tackling tuberculosis’.
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Writing in the parliamentary magazine ‘The House’, Herbert and Sharma recount the significant impact the world’s deadliest infectious disease continues to have around the world and draw attention to the UK’s unique position ahead of the forthcoming UN High Level Meeting on TB.
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“The UK has a strong record on which to lead successful action on TB…the High Level Meeting is a once in a generation opportunity to change the trajectory of the world’s deadliest infectious disease. We don’t need another declaration at the UN: we need leadership and action”
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To read the full article, click here.
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The debate, to be held in the House of Commons Chamber on 7 June will pass the following motion:
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That this House recognises that Tuberculosis (TB) remains the world’s deadliest infectious disease, killing 1.7 million people a year; notes that at the current rate of progress, the world will not reach the Sustainable Development Goal target of ending TB by 2030 for another 160 years; believes that without a major change of pace 28 million people will die needlessly before 2030 at a global economic cost of £700 billion; welcomes the forthcoming UN high-level meeting on TB in New York on 26 September as an unprecedented opportunity to turn the tide against this terrible disease; further notes that the UN General Assembly Resolution encourages all member states to participate in the high-level meeting at the highest possible level, preferably at the level of heads of state and government; and calls on the Government to renew its efforts in the global fight against TB, boost research into new drugs, diagnostics and a vaccine, and for the Prime Minister to attend the UN high-level meeting.
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The debate will be live streamed on ParliamentLive.