A potentially game-changer meet opened in Bangkok on 30th March 2017 to review the progress made on increasing effectiveness and accountability of civil society organisations (CSOs) since adoption of Istanbul Principles seven years back and to brainstorm how can Istanbul Principles make Agenda 2030 a transformative one.
There are 9.6 million new cases of TB and 1.5 million deaths due to it, annually. Also, an estimated 500,000 people develop multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) every year. As highlighted by Paul Jensen, Director of Policy and Strategy, International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), in a webinar organized by CNS, TB, despite being fully curable, kills more people than any other infectious disease in the world.
Swaziland joined the world in commemorating the World TB Day this March 2017. In so doing, many stakeholders from both health and non-health sectors, as well as private and public sector, gathered in different regions, charging forward with renewed energy and commitment towards stopping TB. As Dr Mario Raviglione, Director, Global TB Programme of the World Health Organization (WHO) shared in a webinar organised by CNS, this is a critical time where all players need to come to the table.
The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is convening the 4th session of the Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD 2017) from 29 to 31 March 2017, in Bangkok, Thailand. The APFSD is expected to define a regional roadmap to support member States' implementation of the 2030 Agenda over the next 15 years. 
The governments of over 190 countries promised to deliver on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in September 2015. But progress to keep these promises, has been, at best, patchy. Several community leaders from Asia Pacific region who were actively participating in 2017 Asia Pacific Civil Society Forum on Sustainable Development (CSO Forum of APFSD) in Bangkok, Thailand, feel that business as usual cannot continue if we are truly committed to translate SDGs into development justice for all.
“We have tried to do everything but there has been no improvement. My husband had to take so many medicines for so many months, and yet there was no relief. We finally gave up and went to a faith healer in our village who did some animal sacrifices and put some ash on his forehead. We also went to this famous temple and got pooja done. But even that did not work, says Saroj, a 55 year old woman whose husband has been sick on and off for several years. 
“All my life, I prayed to God and he answered my prayers. I prayed for a job and I got it, I prayed for a husband and he gave me. When we were struggling to have children, I prayed and fasted for two years and now I have three healthy children……even now I will pray that God cures us.” These were the words of Zanele Dlamini (Name changed), a recently widowed 36 year old female from Sidvokodvo, some 60 km from the capital Mbabane in Swaziland. Zanele was diagnosed with multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) in September
2016, she is also HIV positive. Her husband Muzi (Name changed)
succumbed to the same ailments in mid-January this year.
[Watch video interview] [Listen or download the podcast] [हिंदी] Wisdom of Nelson Mandela, "It always seems impossible until it's done", has only deepened in relevance and context when we review the fight against tuberculosis (TB), a curable disease which continues to be one of the top ten causes of death globally. .JPG)
Welcome to this special webinar in lead up to 2017 World TB Day. Governments of more than 190 countries globally have committed to end TB by 2030 by adopting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at UN General Assembly in September 2015. This commitment to end TB is in line with the WHO End TB Strategy which was adopted by World Health Assembly in 2014.
(First published in theindiasaga.com)
(To mark International Women's Day 2017, CNS presents an exclusive story of courage and inspirtion, based upon an interview with TB survivor and activist Prabha Mahesh) 