Political declaration of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the fight against tuberculosis A/RES/73/3 HIV and AIDS, and other co-morbidities such as diabetes, that one quarter of the world’s people are infected with the bacterium that causes the disease, and that millions of people ill with tuberculosis are missing out o n quality care each year, including on access to affordable diagnostic tests and treatment, especially in developing countries; 7. Express serious concern that, despite these commitments, tuberculosis remains a cause of an enormous burden of illness, suffering and death, and that stigma and discrimination because of the disease bring enormous costs for individuals affected by tuberculosis and their families, and acknowledge that an adequate multisectoral and intersectoral engagement in the fight against th e disease is needed, and that the world needs to refocus efforts on actions and investments, including in research, needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals target of ending the tuberculosis epidemic by 2030; 8. Recognize that tuberculosis affects populations inequitably and contributes to the cycle of ill health and poverty, that malnutrition and inadequate living conditions contribute to the spread of tuberculosis and its impact upon the community, and that tuberculosis is fundamentally linked to a majority of the leading development challenges addressed by the 2030 Agenda; 9. Further recognize that tuberculosis is both preventable and curable, yet 40 per cent of people newly affected by tuberculosis are missed by public health reporting systems, and millions do not receive quality care each year, and that tuberculosis can only be eliminated through prevention efforts and access to quality diagnosis, treatment and care, including access to affordable diagnostic tools and drug treatment, effective people-centred and community-based models of care supported by integrated care services, as well as financing innovations, and additional investments in research and development and in the affordable delivery of tuberculosis programmes, especially in developing countries, and recognize that countries that are transitioning from donor to domestic funding face new challenges that may have a negative impact on earlier gains in the fight against tuberculosis; 10. Recognize that, even though tuberculosis is the leading global cause of death of people living with HIV, in 2016 less than half of the estimated number of cases of tuberculosis in people living with HIV were found and notified, and less than 60 per cent of known tuberculosis patients were tested for HIV, precluding treatment and resulting in preventable deaths; 11. Recognize that multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is estimated to account for one third of deaths due to antimicrobial resistance globally, and that many of the Sustainable Development Goals may not be attainable if we fail to address antimicrobial resistance, that the grave risks to individual and public health posed by multidrug-resistant tuberculosis are cause for alarm, that only 25 per cent of the estimated number of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis cases were diagnosed and notified in 2016, such that the vast majority of those in need still lack access to high quality prevention, treatment and care services and that inadequate investment in tuberculosis case detection is a key obstacle to meeting tuberculosis treatment goals, and furthermore acknowledge that the response to multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis to date has been insufficient, despite the introduction of new rapid diagnostic tests, efforts to scale up disease management and international financing, such as from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, including to help support drug supply, yet globally just over 50 per cent of patients enrolled in treatment for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis are successfully treated; 12. Acknowledge that multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is a key component of the global challenge of antimicrobial resistance, and express grave concern that the scope and scale of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis 18-16895 3/10