Each year, the Pacific Health Summit convenes global thought leaders to better understand how to harness scientific advances to tackle the world's pressing health issues. In June, building on the momentum from the Stop TB Partners Forum in Rio de Janeiro, a ministerial meeting of high M/XDR-TB burden countries in Beijing, and the World Health Assembly in Geneva, the Pacific Health Summit engaged leading representatives from science, industry, and policy institutions to focus on overcoming the growing threat of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.
TB Alliance President and CEO, Dr. Mel Spigelman, was a panelist and active participant at the event, speaking alongside other notable figures such as WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan; Founding Director of Partners In Health, Dr. Paul Farmer; and Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci. Spigelman offered insight on the R&D challenges related to MDR-TB and the effectiveness of public-private partnerships in filling gaps in neglected disease drug pipelines.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 490,000 new cases of MDR-TB emerge each year - 40,000 of which will become extensively drug-resistant (XDR-TB). The disease is difficult and costly to treat, which often means that the poorest patients are forced to simply do without the care they so desperately need.
The focus of the meeting tended toward science and drug development, but perhaps the most poignant call to action was the greater need for advocacy. "The gap between rhetoric and reality grows bigger and bigger," said Paula Akugizibwe, regional treatment advocacy coordinator for the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa, who was widely quoted for her remarks during the Summit's closing session.