Secretary-General Appoints Eric Goosby of United States as United Nations Special Envoy on Tuberculosis

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Eric Goosby of the United States as the United Nations Special Envoy on Tuberculosis.

Dr. Goosby was formerly the Ambassador-at-Large and United States Global AIDS Coordinator appointed by President Barack Obama.  He led all United States Government international HIV/AIDS efforts from 2009 to 2013.

Dr. Goosby will work towards raising the profile of the fight against tuberculosis and promoting the adoption, financing and implementation of the World Health Organization’s global “End TB Strategy” after 2015 and its ambitious international targets for tuberculosis prevention, care and control, while pursuing the tuberculosis 2015 targets described in the Millennium Development Goals.

In 2013, an estimated 9 million people developed tuberculosis and 1.5 million men, women and children died from the disease, which heavily affects the most poor and marginalized communities in the world.  HIV/AIDS continues to help fuel the tuberculosis epidemic, especially in Africa, which bears the brunt of the burden with 80 per cent of HIV-associated tuberculosis patients worldwide.  The problem of antimicrobial resistance poses a great threat to tuberculosis control and remains a major concern for global health security.

Dr. Goosby will address these issues by raising the profile of tuberculosis in the global, regional and national political and development agendas, and by calling for countries with high burden of tuberculosis, as well as donor countries, civil society and the private sector, to promote key actions that contribute to end the tuberculosis epidemic, including resource mobilization for research and development.  Dr. Goosby will work closely with the World Health Organization, which will provide secretariat support in carrying out this crucial mission for global health.