Canada has an opportunity to demonstrate its leadership in the quest to end TB on the global stage at the UN HLM on TB. Civil society organizations, affected communities, and global partners are calling on Canada to take high-impact actions to realize its commitments to eliminating TB both in Canada and abroad. Specific asks of Canada are listed below. 

1. Take high-impact actions towards TB elimination: The UN HLM on TB is a key opportunity for Canada to put its words to action by announcing new policies, priorities, and funding to support TB elimination efforts. 

• We urge the Government of Canada to announce new funding to support research and development (R&D) for TB. In 2018, Canada committed to contributing its fair share to TB R&D yet has fallen short of this target every year since. The financial need for TB R&D has more than doubled since the 2018 targets were set. To meet this demand, Canada must allocate 0.15% of its total research expenditure to TB R&D to help improve the tools we have to prevent, diagnose, and treat TB. 

• We urge the Government of Canada to develop a National TB Elimination Strategy, developed in collaboration with the provinces and territories, Indigenous leaders and TB-affected communities that includes commitments, guidelines, and the funding required to: 

• improve TB screening strategies among high-priority groups; 

• address the social determinants of health and barriers to TB care; 

• improve access to TB medication for all people in Canada, specifically exploring mechanisms to improve on current drug shortages and delays, and explore purchasing of updated TB regimens to service vulnerable groups; 

• improve TB surveillance in Canada – intersecting with the overall need for pandemic preparedness mechanisms in the country; and 

• adopt accountability, monitoring, and evaluation measures for programming. 

2. Influence the Political Declaration on TB: Canada has the power to influence the recommendations in the Political Declaration that will be endorsed by all UN member states, including specific targets and commitments needed to get the world back on a trajectory towards TB elimination. We call on Canada to use its influence to ensure that the commitments in the political declaration include: 

• Clear, measurable targets on diagnosing and treating people with TB, provision of preventive therapy, and a focus on high-risk groups, including children and people living with co-morbidities, building on commitments agreed by the General Assembly in the 2018 Political Declaration on TB and Stop TB Partnership’s Global Plan to End TB 2023-2030.  

• Commitments that explicitly support the human rights of people affected by TB, within national TB responses that are equitable, inclusive, gender-sensitive, rights-based and people-centred, and that include action-oriented efforts to address stigma and discrimination and overcome barriers to accessing care and prevention. 

• Commitments to accelerate the research, development, roll-out and access to new TB vaccines, diagnostics, drugs and other essential new tools, including digital health technologies geared to the needs of the most neglected, key and vulnerable populations. 

• Clear financial targets for TB response and for research which will articulate the overall funding need, and highlight the responsibility of each country to deliver its fair share of the global funding need. 

• Provisions for an accountability framework that includes annual reporting from the Secretary-General to monitor and evaluate progress towards ending TB, and of investments in TB R&D and lead on the production of a report for the UN General Assembly, and development of other accountability tools that can be used at global, regional, national and sub-national levels. 

3. Support the involvement of TB-affected communities: The involvement of individuals who have been personally affected by TB is critical to ensuring that the outcomes of the UN HLM on TB directly reflect the needs of the TB-affected community. 

• We urge the Government of Canada to ensure that individuals based in Canada with lived experience of tuberculosis are able to meaningfully engage throughout the UN HLM on TB process by supporting their participation as part of Canada’s official delegation.