mr president i welcome this opportunity on world tuberculosis day to underline the commission's commitment to addressing the challenges caused by this disease
we had believed that our successes in past decades had eliminated the threats related to this serious public health concern
however for too long we have mistakenly lowered the guard against tuberculosis
in two thousand and eight the european centre for disease prevention and control reported around eighty-three zero cases and close to six zero deaths due to tuberculosis in the european union and efta countries
this amounts to about sixteen deaths a day
this is simply unacceptable and requires action by all concerned sectors and stakeholders
it is unacceptable because tuberculosis is a preventable and curable disease that should not lead to such dramatic consequences
tuberculosis is a cross-sector issue and it is linked to many of the public health challenges we face in the european union including the spread of anti-microbial resistance the lack of new effective tools to diagnose and treat tuberculosis the steep rise of co-infections such as with hiv and the inequalities with tuberculosis disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable groups
the commission has launched a number of initiatives over the past years to strengthen capacities to tackle tuberculosis
in two thousand tuberculosis was included in the list of priority diseases under eu-wide surveillance
in this context the commission supported several projects that have helped coordinate the surveillance of tuberculosis in the fifty-three countries of the who european region
this has improved our shared knowledge and monitoring of the epidemiological situation
in addition through its research framework programmes the commission supports the development of new treatments vaccines drugs and diagnostic tools against tuberculosis
since two thousand and two more than eur one hundred and twenty-four million has been allocated to these efforts
but as tuberculosis is not constrained by borders we have to support countries beyond the european union
the commission supports developing countries in their tuberculosis control programmes through the european programme for action to confront hiv aids malaria and tuberculosis through external action two thousand and seven twenty eleven
the main channel for financing this support is the global fund to fight aids tuberculosis and malaria to which the commission has contributed eur eight hundred and seventy million since two thousand and two with an annual contribution that amounts to eur one hundred million since two thousand and eight
in addition it supports clinical trials and capacity building in sub-saharan africa through the european and developing countries clinical trials partnership edctp
finally the setting up of the european centre for disease prevention and control has enabled us to raise our efforts against tuberculosis to a new level
in march two thousand and seven following a request from the commission the centre developed an action plan to fight tuberculosis in the eu
this addresses the key cross-sectoral challenges we are facing today in tuberculosis prevention and control and strengthening epidemiological surveillance ensuring prompt and quality tb care for all developing new tools for diagnosis and treatment decreasing the burden of tuberculosis and hiv co-infection and addressing the threat of multi-drug resistance
however the commission cannot succeed in this challenge alone
the contribution from civil society to reach out to the most vulnerable and the member states commitment are key towards achieving our objective to support the global fight against this disease
