Namibia’s Health and Social Services Minister has challenged UN member states to urgently confront the concurrent challenges posed by TB and COVID-19.

Dr. Kalumbi Shangula says the strategy must be holistic, considering both medical and health dimensions as well as the intricately interwoven dynamics of socio-economic welfare.

This, he says, should be done bearing in mind the compounding effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on TB. The imperative of enhanced dedication and increased funding for TB interventions and research has never been clearer, especially given the emergence of drug-resistant TB.

The Health Minister added that the initial progress countries made to combat TB has slowed, stalled, or been reversed as of 2019, and therefore global TB targets are off track.

Global health reports have also indicated that the estimated number of deaths from TB increased between 2019 and 2021, reversing years of decline in mortalities between 2005 and 2019.

Dr. Shangula further revealed that the Namibian government has taken proactive measures upon recognising the vulnerability of the various segments of the population.

“We have also established the Parliamentary Caucus on TB and updated monitoring and evaluation systems to capture key information in line with the End TB Strategy. The Namibia TB Research Consortium was established, bringing together key stakeholders and academic institutions to coordinate, inter alia, research and innovation”. Dr. Shangula said

The Minister delivered the country’s national statement during the high-level meeting on the fight against TB at the 78th UN General Assembly on Friday.