Statement by Sergey Kononuchenko, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation, at the World Tuberculosis Day Mission Briefing co-hosted by the Missions of Russian Federation, Brazil, Antigua and Barbuda, Japan, USAID, WHO and Stop TB Partnership
Dear colleagues,
First of all, I would like to thank the World Health Organization and the Stop TB Partnership for organizing this event.
World Tuberculosis Day is observed on 24 March each year. TB is a disease that remains a serious problem for the international community and is still among the top 10 causes of death in the world, ahead of the human immunodeficiency virus and malaria.
The disease has a considerable impact on the socioeconomic status of the infected person, as it leads to a significant decrease in quality of life. Striking mainly the working age population (about 82 % of patients), it puts a heavy burden on the healthcare system, adversely affecting a country's GDP.
The situation in the Russian Federation has improved significantly by prioritizing this issue at the national level, introducing a systematic approach and implementing effective integrated preventive and epidemic control measures. Federal target programs and the State program “Healthcare Development” have been consistently carried out for more than 10 years with stable funding from the federal and regional budgets.
During this period medical organizations of all regions of Russia that provide assistance to patients with tuberculosis were supplied with modern laboratory and diagnostic equipment. It allowed to introduce the newest technologies of rapid detection of drug resistance and to ensure wide coverage of preventive examinations.
It is important that the whole set of measures to combat tuberculosis, from prevention and drug provision to sanatorium treatment and rehabilitation, is free of charge for Russian citizens. In addition, a wide range of social support measures for tuberculosis cases is being implemented.
According to preliminary data, the overall incidence of tuberculosis decreased by 9.4 % in 2017 as compared to 2016. Since 2008, when the peak was recorded, the decline was 43.2 %.
The Russian Federation is taking steps to fight TB at the international level as well. My government allocated $ 14.8 million dollars as an earmarked contribution to the WHO for a joint three-year project (2018-2020) aimed at intensifying multisectoral measures to combat tuberculosis.
Our success and experience in resolving this problem are of great interest and resonate with different countries and international organizations.
On the initiative of the Ministry of Health of Russia, The First WHO Global Ministerial Conference on “Ending Tuberculosis in the Sustainable Development Era: a Multisectoral Response” was held on November 16-17, 2017 in Moscow.
Its outcome document, the Moscow Declaration, identified priority multisectoral measures to eliminate tuberculosis by 2030. Among them are: universal access to health services and social support for TB patients; prevention of stigmatization and discrimination of patients; ensuring adequate and sustainable financing of TB programs; intensification of scientific research with the aim to develop new effective drugs, short treatment regimens, diagnostic tools for accelerated detection of drug susceptibility and new effective vaccines; development of a multisectoral system of accountability that allows not only to monitor the situation, but also to take the necessary actions promptly; intensification of the fight against multidrug-resistant TB in the context of the global AMR agenda; intensification of the fight against tuberculosis associated with HIV infection.
We consider the decision to convene the High-Level Meeting of the UN General Assembly on the fight against tuberculosis in 2018 to be very timely. We expect that it will address the problem of tuberculosis in a comprehensive manner. For our part, we will make every effort to develop a substantive outcome document based on the conclusions and recommendations of the Moscow Declaration.
Thank you.
