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STATEMENT BY H.E MS. DAVAAJANTSAN SARANGEREL, MEMBER OF THE PARLIAMENT, MEMBER OF THE CABINET, MINISTER FOR HEALTH OF MONGOLIA AT THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH LEVEL MEETING ON THE FIGHT AGAINST TUBERCULOSIS

Wednesday, 26 September 2018
Presenter: 
Sarangerel Davaajantsan
Location: 
UNHQ

Madame President,

Mr Secretary General,

Mr Director-General of the World Health Organization,

Distinguished Delegates,

Tuberculosis, the global threat, is one of the most challenging issues in Mongolia.

Mongolia is one of the seven TB high burden countries in the WHO Western Pacific Region. According to a national TB prevalence survey conducted in 2014 and 2015 with the support of the WHO, there were more than 12,000 new TB cases per year, of which 5.3% were drug-resistant TB. This means in Mongolia, a country with 3.2 million population, the number of TB incidences triples the global average.

Madame President,

The Government of Mongolia has been putting efforts in combatting TB.

At the Parliament, Mongolia TB Caucus were formed, we are working for allocating necessary funding to build a 120-bed hospital for drug-resistant TB patients.

The Government increased the state funding for TB care services by 25 percent and salaries of TB specialists and physicians by 30 percent respectively.

The Government provides the funding for first-line anti-TB drugs, treatments for side­effects, pediatric TB and XDR-TB (extensively drug-resistant TB).

Incentives for TB patients are being provided by the Government Social Welfare Fund.

Combatting TB requires effective multisectoral collaboration, hence, we have been taking measures to ensure collaborative efforts targeted on high-risk population groups including prisoners, homeless people, artisanal miners, and TB contacts.

Madame President,

I would like to note here that our international donors and partners namely the WHO and the Global Fund have been contributing through their continuous technical and financial support to the implementation of our Government policies and programmes.

Mongolia is the most sparsely populated country in the world. In our context, where in some parts, a travel of 2000 km is required to ensure the delivery of health services, therefore, fully-equipped mobile ambulatory, mobile x-rays and other essential medical equipment are of crucial need for us.

Given the fact that Mongolia is a high TB burden country and the country's current difficult economic situation where we are under the Extended Fund Facility by the International Monetary Fund, we would like to request our international donors and partners to continuously provide technical and financial support to our Government TB programs.

We believe our collective efforts yield positive outcomes by 2030.

Thank you for your attention!