Health Minister declares support to combat tuberculosis 

Riyadh:  Saudi Health Minister Eng. Fahd Al-Jalajel stressed the need to strengthen global health systems and enhance coordination through the 'One Health' approach while ensuring sustainable funding to combat global health security threats. This came during his speech delivered virtually on Monday, June 20, to the meeting of G20 health ministers held in Jakarta.

Al-Jalajel added that Saudi Arabia stresses the importance of continuing coordination and joint work between health ministers in the group, announcing his country's support for the working group for pandemic Preparedness Prevention and Response PPR.

The Saudi minister indicated that the G20 could lead attempts to address gaps shown in the Global Report on Efforts to End Tuberculosis for the year 2021, explaining that case detection and treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis is one of the biggest obstacles to achieving progress in this field. He pointed to the importance of investing in rapid testing and effective treatment by funding existing initiatives such as the World Health Organization and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.