Blessina Kumar's talk on behalf of the TB community delivered at the Global Ministerial Conference on TB, Moscow, Russia, 16 November 2017.
Blessina Kumar delivered a talk on behalf of the TB community and civil society at large on 16 November 2017 at the second high-level plenary, Accelerating to end TB: perspectives of civil society and TB survivors.
“Historically TB is seen as a disease of the poor and so has the response been. Not a priority. But things are beginning to change slowly but surely. Bold policies and guidelines and the thinking among the larger TB community that is all of us is changing. But if we are thinking of ending TB this slow change will not do. We all have committed to ending TB and this means taking the ‘bull by its horns’. One of the first things to do is accept that we have a huge emergency on our hands and we need to prepare like we would for war! When you want to fight a fire you do not use drops of water but a full blast. Do we dare? Do we have the courage? I believe the answer to that is a yes! What does this mean?? – Addressing the huge gaps with urgency. No time to loose.”
Blessina Kumar is CEO of the Global Coalition of TB Activists (GCTA).
To access the full text, click here.
To access the video from the plenary, click here. Blessina Kumar 's section begins at 18:10.