Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-03-24-Speech-3-293"
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"en.20100324.20.3-293"2
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"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 2008, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reported around 83 000 cases and close to 6 000 deaths due to tuberculosis in the European Union and EFTA countries. This amounts to about 16 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 2000, 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 53 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 2002, more than EUR 124 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 (2007-2011). The main channel for financing this support is the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, to which the Commission has contributed EUR 870 million since 2002, with an annual contribution that amounts to EUR 100 million since 2008. 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 2007, 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."@en1
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