23 June, Siem Reap – The new Activists’ Coalition on TB – Asia-Pacific Steering Committee (ACT! AP SC) revisited and updated its Commitments to Action for 2024-2026. This is the first time that the Commitments to Action have been updated since its adoption in 2016 following the establishment of ACT! AP.
This development was in response to make the Commitments to Action more relevant and reflective of the current TB response landscape in the heels of the 2023 High-Level Meeting on TB held in September 2023. Under the new Commitments to Action, one of its emphasis is on financing efforts around integrated healthcare services, which acknowledges calls surrounding universal health coverage (UHC), antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and climate justice.
“Financing for the TB community should focus on integrated healthcare services, including malaria, AMR, gender justice, climate justice, and UHC. Without this, the target to meet 5 million people in TB preventive therapy (TPT) cannot be met.” – Choub Sok Chamreun, ACT! AP Steering Committee Co-Chair.
“I feel that we need to encounter political engagement on the international level to help the national agendas. We can collaborate together as an initiative internationally not only on TB, but in a global scene because we have shared social determinants.” – Bazra Tsogt, ACT! AP Steering Committee Co-Chair.
ACT! AP has also put more emphasis in promoting community, rights, and gender (CRG), TB preventive therapy (TPT) including 1/4/6 x 24 campaign, vaccine access, and increased investments to community-led organisations and the responses that they lead.
ACT! AP will develop technical briefs for each Commitments to Action to support and guide its affiliates in the advocacy and other related interventions that will help realise these Commitments within the national TB responses.