March 21, 2019
National Academies of Science
Washington, DC

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: It's great to be here today with all of you...and also to have my good friend Mark with us, as well.

Nearly twenty years ago, in response to the devastating global AIDS crisis, President Bush called upon the global health community to bring their best ideas forward and make meaningful progress towards addressing the pandemic.

For many, it may have seemed like an impossible task... but not Mark. His leadership contributed to the launch of PEPFAR, an initiative that has saved the lives of more than 16 million people living with HIV, and prevented millions more new HIV infections. His contributions have transformed the global AIDS response: the afflicted now have hope, and the world has a path forward for conquering the AIDS pandemic.

Today, we seek to transform another global health security crisis. The kind of leadership that Mark, and others, provided in tackling HIV, we all learned from... and we are trying to apply those very same lessons in our fight against TB.

I am proud to say that USAID has been a leader in the global fight against TB, and we will continue to be. Since 2000, we have seen nearly a 50 percent reduction in TB-related deaths; more than 54 million lives have been saved, and that is something for us to celebrate.

However, while many gains have been achieved, I think we all know that we have much to do. TB remains the world's number-one infectious disease killer, continuing to claim nearly two million lives every year.

It also disproportionately affects the most vulnerable people in our society: those living in poverty and marginalized communities. Too many individuals with TB also face stigma and discrimination which discourages them from treatment.

In order to confront and to conquer these challenges, USAID launched the Global TB Accelerator to End Tuberculosis... which is unique for a few reasons.

It uses a multi-sectoral approach focused on locally-generated solutions to increase our support to governments and local partners taking bold steps towards ending TB.

It also emphasizes the critical role that faith-based and community organizations must play. They are often the most trusted voices in hard-to-reach communities who can approach health problems holistically, understanding and treating the patients' needs, not just the disease.

Finally, this represents a new business model that catalyzes commitments across all sectors and supports countries to develop and implement a performance-based measurement system in order to optimize public and private resources, and better align USAID's TB funding with our partner countries' commitments.

We are taking all that we have learned and achieved in our fight against this disease and are trying to push it to the next level. I am encouraged by our progress and we will continue to rise, alongside others, to the bold challenge of one day ending this deadly, treatable disease.