Stakeholders in the global fight against tuberculosis (TB) have called for stronger political will to expedite the development and implementation of alternative vaccines.
They made the call on Thursday in Abuja at the post-United Nations High-Level Meeting (UNHLM), National Stakeholders’ Consultation, organized by the Stop TB Partnership Nigeria.
The stakeholders, including health organizations, researchers, and advocates, argued that the lack of progress in tackling the disease is due to a significant gap in addressing it effectively.
The Deputy Chair of the Global Stop TB Partnership, Mr. Austin Obiefuna, said that TB remains a major global health concern, with millions of people affected and hundreds of thousands of deaths recorded each year.
“While there have been significant advancements in diagnosis and treatment, the development of effective vaccines has been limited.
“The current vaccine, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), has been in use for almost a century but is only partially effective in preventing severe forms of TB in children,” he said.
To combat this challenge, Obiefuna emphasized the need for increased political will to prioritize the development of alternative vaccines.
He argued that stronger commitment from governments and policymakers was essential to accelerating research, clinical trials, and regulatory processes.
Additionally, he said, funding for TB vaccine research and development needs to be significantly increased to support innovative approaches and collaborations.
The acting chair of BOT @StopTBNigeria, Dr. Queen Ogbuji-Ladipo, said that the call for stronger political will was driven by the recognition that TB is a global issue that requires a coordinated and comprehensive response.
Ogbuji-Ladipo stressed that governments must prioritize TB on their health agendas and allocate adequate resources to address the disease effectively.
“This includes investing in research and development, as well as strengthening healthcare systems to ensure equitable access to vaccines once they become available,” she said.
Also speaking, the representative of the World Health Organization, Dr. Amos Omoniyi, stressed that winning the war against TB required a stronger commitment from governments at all levels to augment the resources from donors to tackle the menace in Nigeria.
Omoniyi called for increased international collaboration and partnerships to share knowledge, resources, and expertise in TB vaccine development.
He emphasized the importance of global cooperation to overcome challenges and ensure that alternative vaccines are accessible and affordable for all countries, particularly those with high TB burdens.
Other stakeholders at the forum also called for effective collaboration to ensure continued sensitization at the grassroots to ensure that missing cases are found and placed on treatment, as about 50,000 children get infected daily, which can infect others if not treated.
The UNHLM on TB highlighted from the September 2023 meeting that the main objective is to implement a comprehensive review of progress in the context of the achievement of targets set in the 2018 political declaration and in the Sustainable Development Goals.
In preparation for the high-level meeting, Member States have requested that the Secretary-General, with the support of the WHO, develop a “comprehensive and analytical report.
The report will be on progress achieved and challenges remaining in realizing tuberculosis goals within the context of achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the progress and implementation of the 2018 political declaration.
