December 3, 2018 – Global funding for tuberculosis (TB) research climbed to a previously unreported high of USD $772 million in 2017, according to a report released today by Treatment Action Group (TAG) and the United Nations-hosted Stop TB Partnership.
This marks the second year in a row that funding for TB research and development (R&D) exceeded $700 million.
At the High-Level Meeting on TB, UN member states committed “to mobilize sufficient and sustainable financing” for TB research “with the aim of increasing overall global investments to US$2 billion, in order to close the US$1.3 billion gap in funding annually.” The funding gap cited in this commitment reflects the difference between what the Stop TB Partnership says the world needs to invest in TB R&D from 2016 to 2020 (a total of $9 billion, or about $2 billion per year) and data from TAG showing that, in actuality, the global community only spends about one-third of that amount. “After years of stagnation, funding for TB research is showing some movement in the right direction, but is still far from the necessary $2 billion per year, so we have to join forces, remain united, and raise our voices and tone and ensure that we close the gap,” commented Lucica Ditiu, executive director of the Stop TB Partnership.
While this marks the highpoint since TAG began tracking in 2005, it is more than $1.2 billion less than the funding needed each year to achieve global TB control goals.
Source: http://www.treatmentactiongroup.org/content/tbrd2018
12/12/2018
