By Our Reporter
Uganda Stop TB Partnership (USTP) in collaboration with their Geneva Partners United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) have nominated Bebe Cool as a Tuberculosis (TB) Ambassador for Uganda.
Bebe Cool will be tasked with raising awareness about Tuberculosis and drawing the public attention towards its plight in Uganda.
Upon being nominated as TB Ambassador for Uganda, Bebe Cool said; “To support the Uganda Stop TB Partnership, Ministry of Health and UNOPS in the campaign to end Tuberculosis in Uganda is a big responsibility that I and many Ugandans should embark on to save lives that are lost each passing day because of this killer disease. I am proud to take on this responsibility for my motherland Uganda.”
Meanwhile, Bebe Cool is in the US to attend the United Nations High Level Meeting on Tuberculosis (UNHLM) to be held at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 23 -27 September 2018. In this meeting Bebe Cool will be interfacing with international high level health funders from across the globe in a bid to lobby for funds to eradicate this killer disease.
The United Nations High Level Meeting on tuberculosis will among others aim to provide a platform for TB Champions, celebrities and journalists to share their crucial work on TB; elevate TB visibility and awareness post UNHLM in every country and also discuss post UNHLM activities for advocacy and awareness raising.
According to the Ministry of Health, Uganda remains among the 30 high burden TB/HIV countries in the world. TB causes significant loss of lives and ill health to Ugandans each year with 80,000 new TB cases much higher than HIV (60,000 new cases). The Ministry of Health National TB and Leprosy Programme strategic plan 2015/16 – 2019/20 highlights the need to collaborate and engage with key stakeholders in ending the TB epidemic.