GOAL

Tuberculosis is the deadliest infectious disease that kills more than 1.7 million people annually. For the first time this year, the UN will be holding a High Level Meeting (HLM) on TB in September to call on all governments and partners to reaffirm their commitments to end TB by 2030. Leading up to the HLM, the civil society has been actively engaging in this process, which will result in the adaptation of a political declaration.

One of the central elements that the civil society has persistently raised is the critical importance of human rights-based, people-centered approach to strengthen community responses to TB, including those in the cities. This call is seamlessly aligned with the "human security" approach to development, which is also reflected in the Goal 11 of SDGs, which aims to "make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable."

The occasion of the High Level Political Forum for Sustainable Development (HLPF) that will focus on sustainable cities and human settlement is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the linkage among SDG goals, and to sustain and increase the momentum on the global response to TB, in the lead up to the September HLM.

The goal of the side event is to sustain the dialogue on the critical aspects of the global TB response, which the UN community will commit to in September. The side event will focus on "human-centered approach" to fight TB, aligned with the "human security" approach in the global efforts to achieve SDGs Goal 11, and the importance of effective mechanism to follow-up and review the implementation of commitments and programs at the global, regional, national and local levels. 

New Corella, a town in Mindanao Island, has tried hard to develop itself to be a "healthy town" to strengthen community responses for health and primary health care.