Bending the Curve - Keeping our Promise of Ending TB in the South-East Asia Region on Time

The fight against TB is integrally linked with the region's broader aspirations for health and development. TB sits at the intersection of health and development – the poor are exceptionally afflicted by TB, and up to four times more than those in the highest income bracket. TB perpetuates poverty by debilitating those with disease, often in the most productive years of age. It is estimated that TB patients in low and middle income countries face expenditures equivalent to more than 50% of their annual income in fighting this disease.

With the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations, all countries are now committed to "end TB" which essentially means at least a 90% reduction in TB mortality and 80% reduction in TB incidence by 2030. This needs a paradigm shift in strategies that we use to address TB. While the global goal of Ending TB has received political support, the reality is that the current pace of progress in the Region is too slow – and by several orders of magnitude in most countries – to reach the End TB targets.