Ladies and Gentlemen,

The aftermath of 11 September 2001 has made all of us think more deeply about the kind of world in which we want our children to live. In the new and uncertain environment into which we have been propelled, we feel, more deeply than ever, the need to hold fast to a vision of peace and security, security not only from violence but from all threats to humanity.

A recent report from the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health entitled Macroeconomics and health: investing in health for economic development indicates that only a few health conditions are responsible for a high proportion of the avoidable deaths in low-income countries and that well-targeted measures, using existing technologies, could save the lives of around 8 million people per year by 2010. This would result in direct economic benefits of more than US $186 billion a year by 2015, plausibly several times that.

Tuberculosis is one of the main health conditions responsible for poverty. Tuberculosis is estimated to take an annual economic toll equivalent to US$ 12 billion from the incomes of poor communities. Studies suggest that on average, a tuberculosis patient loses three to four months of working time. This means that the patient and the patient’s family may lose 20% to 30% of their annual household income. If the patient dies from tuberculosis, there will be a further loss of an average of 15 years of income.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The global theme of World Tuberculosis Day this year is: 

Tuberculosis still kills 130 000 people and affects 630 000 people in the Eastern Mediterranean Region every year. This means that every minute someone from the Region develops tuberculosis and that every five minutes, someone from the Region dies from tuberculosis. This is unacceptable, particularly given the fact that we have an effective intervention strategy, namely the DOTS strategy. We must scale up our activities and bring tuberculosis under real control.

In this regard, progress made in the Region to date is encouraging. By the end of 2001, 18 countries had achieved nationwide implementation of the DOTS strategy, or DOTS ALL OVER. Sudan and the Republic of Yemen are expected to achieve it this year. Somalia is a successful example of DOTS activities being implemented in a situation of complex emergency, achieving better than an 85% treatment success rate. Afghanistan and Pakistan are still lagging in DOTS expansion, although efforts have recently been intensified in these countries.

The challenges in tuberculosis control in the Region vary among countries. Countries lagging in DOTS expansion should make every effort to expand DOTS activities towards achieving DOTS ALL OVER. This should take place without delay. Countries that have achieved DOTS ALL OVER should continue their efforts to improve their activities, particularly with regard to the quality and comprehensiveness of DOTS activities. The challenge in improving the quality of DOTS activities is to maintain a high treatment success rate and improve case detection. In many countries, we have not detected as many tuberculosis cases as expected. The challenge in improving the comprehensiveness of DOTS activities is to involve all health care providers in the DOTS strategy. In many countries, intrasectoral collaboration, particularly partnership development with the private health sector, is still limited.

In order to address these challenges, the Regional Office, in collaboration with Member States, has developed a Regional Strategic Plan for 2002 to 2005. The Plan outlines the activities needed to achieve the regional targets for tuberculosis control set for 2005. These targets are to detect 70% of all cases of tuberculosis and successfully treat 85% of them by 2005, sustain these rates, and enrol all detected tuberculosis patients in the DOTS strategy by 2005.

The Strategic Plan also outlines our vision for tuberculosis control, namely the elimination of tuberculosis in the Region by the year 2050. This means that the first children born in this millennium in the Region will see the elimination of tuberculosis in their lifetime. They should be able to enjoy their lives free from the threat of tuberculosis.

In this regard, I would like to invite you to look at the poster inserted in the World Tuberculosis Day Advocacy Kit prepared by the Regional Office. There is a boy in the poster holding a sign that says "Stop TB." The boy’s name is Omar Montasser. Omar was born in Cairo, Egypt, on 4 January 2000. He is one of our millennium children. If you or your extended family has a child born in this new millennium, imagine, if you will, that your child is in the poster instead of Omar. Whether Omar and your child will witness the elimination of tuberculosis is up to us. The future of our millennium children depends on us.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

World Tuberculosis Day is an excellent opportunity to envision the kind of world we want our children to live in, and to start working together to make our vision come true.

Thank you very much for your attention.