Interview with Dr Jorge Sampaio, former President of Portugal, as his first Special Envoy to Stop Tuberculosis.
By Glenn Thomas.
Stop Tuberculosis
Two months ago (May 2006) the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, appointed Dr Jorge Sampaio, the former President of Portugal, as his first Special Envoy to Stop Tuberculosis. Dr Sampaio’s role will be to build heightened awareness of this leading killer of our time. His immediate task will be to encourage world leaders to strengthen their commitment to TB control, and to work to reach the Millennium Development Goal of halting and beginning to reverse the incidence of the disease by 2015. Dr Sampaio was elected President of Portugal in 1996 and served for ten years in office.
Why did the UN Secretary General
appoint a Special Envoy for Stop TB?
As I see it, for two main reasons. On the one hand
because the fight against TB needs more visibility
and on the other, because it needs high level political
leadership. Although TB is a curable and preventable
disease, it is a major killer with 1.7 million
deaths per year caused by TB. Thus urgent action is
necessary to scale up our efforts to stop TB.
Have you come in with a specific agenda
and mandate?
I’d prefer to think of it as a set of tasks to be achieved
in a framework. The framework is made up by the
Millennium Development Goal of halting and beginning
to reverse the incidence of TB by 2015 and by the
Global Plan to Stop TB 2006-2015. I hope that I can use
my political clout to generate public awareness about
TB and to persuade world leaders to play their part
in fully funding and implementing the Global Plan,
which aims to achieve enormous progress towards
TB elimination. I’ll be working closely with WHO and
the Stop TB Partnership, which are leading the fight
against TB, to ensure my role as UN Special Envoy is
productive.
How many countries face the threat of TB?
TB is a global disease of poverty. Virtually all TB
deaths are in the developing world, affecting mostly
young adults in their most productive years.
There are almost 9 million new TB cases a year. But
we are also aware that the threat of multidrug-resistant
TB, or MDR-TB, is a serious threat to public
health in Eastern Europe, likewise TB/HIV in
Africa. Both these regions need special attention,
especially if we are to succeed in reaching the Millennium
Development Goal by 2015.
What action do you propose to take in
the face of MDR-TB in Europe?
We need urgent and political action. There must be
no excuses. To help achieve this, I will be taking part
in a Ministerial Forum on the TB emergency facing
Europe in October in Copenhagen. For the time
being my role, as I see it, is rather about fostering
strong commitment from all quarters, to ensure that
the Global Plan to Stop TB 2006-2015 is fully funded
and implemented.
Do you have enough funding to stop
Tuberculosis?
No. Full funding of the Global Plan to Stop TB over the
next 10 years will cost US$ 56 billion and requires a
three-fold increase in investment. But there is still a
funding gap, estimated as US$ 31 billion. Something
has to be done on this issue. I hope we can help in finding
ways of filling the gap. Anyway, the rewards are
high. Full funding would save 14 million lives.
Will you be based in Geneva?
Nowadays, with new information technologies, it is
possible to be based in Lisbon while at the same
time work very closely with WHO’s Stop TB Department
and the Stop TB Partnership whose secretariat
is based in Geneva. They will be co-ordinating my
calendar of activities with my office in Lisbon. We
have to take full advantage of all these powerful
tools offered by the digital age to adapt and rationalize
old working methods and procedures. But of
course I’ll travel to Geneva as often as necessary.
How do you plan to use the power of the
media to spread the word on TB?
Media is vital. Communicating the urgency around
TB is a core focus. The Global Plan outlines the
strategies relating to global and country advocacy.
And of course, I’ll certainly be advocating myself on
TB issues at press events and other media opportunities
where TB can be raised. TB remains a neglected
disease in comparison to many others, and I do
believe that we have to focus on raising awareness
and also educating communities so that we can end
the misery associated with tuberculosis deaths.
© 2006 UN Special |