The impact of COVID-19 on TB service delivery has already been devastating and threatens to worsen. New TB case notifications in some areas have dropped by up to 75%, which means we risk falling far behind on finding the 3 million people with TB who are “missed” each year. If we do not combine our efforts to fight both TB and COVID-19 together, we will undoubtedly lose years of progress.
The Global Fund is providing guidance, tools and immediate funding of more than US$1 billion to help countries fight COVID-19, mitigate the impacts on lifesaving HIV, TB and malaria programs, and prevent fragile health systems from being overwhelmed, but they need more – $5 billion more.
This World TB Day urge your governments to ensure The Global Fund can protect all its hard-fought progress by increasing investments to meet their $5 billion goal.