Current trends in global health

In 2017, several political events took place which supported the fi ght against
tuberculosis worldwide. First, the Global TB Caucus, a global organization
of parliamentarians with the aim of supporting TB research and control convened
at the 11th TB symposium of the Koch-Mechnikov Forum (KMF) and
submitted a joint letter to the German minister of health emphasizing the
need to fi ght especially multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. KMF, together with
many other non-governmental organizations, appealed to the G20 Summit
to include the fi ght against TB into their fi nal statement. In their meeting in
Hamburg in July 2017, the G20 members adopted a fi nal document which
deals with the fi ght against antimicrobial resistances including the problem
of MDR-TB. In November 2017, all health ministers convened in Moscow to
jointly discuss current issues of tuberculosis control and adopted a declaration
about how to end TB within the sustainable development goals until
2030. The Moscow Declaration together with the G20 statement on TB and
the NGOs’ statements form the basis for a UN highlevel meeting in New York
in 2018.
The special issue of the Akkon Schriftenreihe on tuberculosis is a compendium
of the 2017’s TB events and their respective outcomes. It is meant as
a basis for an active discussion process to review strategies, initiatives and
projects in an effort to further join forces and discuss, how technical and
scientifi c work and contributions could foster political support in fi ghting TB.