On 6 November 2025, Dr Javid Abdelmoneim, International President of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), delivered a statement at the 2025 G20 Health Ministers High Level Meeting, ‘Together for a TB-free World: Financing and Access Solutions for Novel TB Vaccines’:
Excellencies,
Everyday MSF witnesses the devastating toll of tuberculosis (TB) in vulnerable communities where barriers to affordable diagnosis, treatment, and prevention cost lives.
A novel TB vaccine is critical, but this alone is not enough. Governments, donors, and institutions must continue investing in TB preventive therapy (TPT), diagnostics, effective treatment regimens, nutrition interventions.
Vaccine success requires predictable funding, fair pricing, reliable supply, and country readiness to integrate it into existing care initiatives. Strengthening adolescent and adult immunisation platforms is also essential.
Lessons from the Advanced Market Commitment (AMC) for pneumococcal vaccines show how high prices and limited competition restrict access, especially in middle-income countries. These lessons must inform TB vaccine access models. Public R&D funding agreements must include requirements for technology transfer, non-exclusive licensing, end-to-end transparency, post-trial access, and affordable pricing.
We urge G20 leaders, global health stakeholders, and donors to act now to ensure TB vaccines are accessible, affordable, and equitably distributed where most needed.
