It is my pleasure to report to you the highly successful conclusion of the first HIV/TB Global Leaders' Forum<http://www.stoptb.org/events/hivtbleaders/home.html>at UN Headquarters on Monday, 9 June.
The Forum, which attracted a packed conference room of country delegations, civil society and the private sector was a landmark event. This was the first time heads of government, public health and business leaders, heads of UN agencies and activists came together to seek a common way forward on confronting HIV/TB.
The Forum was convened by the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy to Stop TB, Dr Jorge Sampaio, and endorsed by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The Forum was opened by Dr Sampaio and Mr Srgjan Kerim, President of the UN General Assembly; the UN Secretary-General; and William J. Clinton, founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation and former President of the United States.
Other speakers included Faure Gnassingbe, President of Togo; Armando Guebuz, President of Mozambique; Nafis Sadik, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for AIDS in Asia; Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General; Dr Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS; Dr Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; and Ambassador Mark Dybul, United States Global AIDS Coordinator.
Dr Sampaio urged participants to see The Call for Action<http://www.stoptb.org/events/hivtbleaders/call_for_action.html>on HIV/TB, circulated for comment in the weeks before the Forum, as a
Living document. In his closing remarks, he stressed the need for partnership and coordination. Partnership is needed at every level, he said, to save millions of lives.
Dr Sampaio is to report on the outcome of the forum to the UN High-Level Meeting on AIDS, which begins on 10 June. As many of you are aware, the Forum was supported by UNAIDS, the World Bank, WHO, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Stop TB Partnership.
The Forum's theme -- One Life -- Two Diseases -- One Response should serve as an inspiration to all of us. I firmly believe this Forum is a watershed event that will galvanize bold new leadership on HIV/TB.
Warm regards,
Marcos Espinal
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Dr Marcos A Espinal - Executive Secretary
Stop TB Partnership Secretariat
WHO/STB/TBP
20, Avenue Appia
CH-1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland Telephone: +41 22 791 2708
Fax: +41 22 791 4886
mailto:espinalm@who.int