October 2000, second issue of the Stop TB Communiqué

STOP TB COMMUNIQUE

Stop TB Communiqué is issued monthly by email to global partners in order to share information and updates on progress in the global partnership movement to stop TB. Stop TB is a partnership hosted by the World Health Organization www.who.ch

Partners are invited to submit news items, reports on progress, and comments and suggestions to reynoldsk@who.org. Stop TB Secretariat, World Health Organization, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27. Visit the Stop TB website at www.stoptb.org. The site is sponsored by the American Lung Association www.lungsa.org.

1. News from the Secretariat

• Governance

Stop TB has retained the services of an independent consultant to steer the formulation of governance modalities and structures for implementation of the Global Partnership to Stop TB. Kevin Lyonette of Sustainable Development Services will facilitate a transparent and inclusive consultation process directly with global partners, which will be carried out in three phases according to the following timetable:

Phase One Consultation (2-12 October): Initiate process with partners; (12 Oct) based on inputs, prepare proposal for Terms of Reference for the Partners’ Forum, the Coordinating Group, and the STB Secretariat. Proposal to include an analysis of progress to date.

Phase Two Review (13-31 October): Direct contact with partners by email, telephone or fax; (31 Oct) Preparation of final document incorporating comments from 12 Oct draft proposal.

Phase Three Outputs (12-30 November): Final draft by email to all partners; (12-20 Nov) collate comments received on the final draft; (30 Nov) prepare final, detailed document.

Kevin Lyonette may be contacted at Sustainable Development Services, 1a sentier des Morettes, 1197 Prangins, Switzerland, Telephone +41 (22) 361 9739 Fax +41 (22) 361 8164 lyonette@bluewin.ch.

• Global Drug Facility

Stop TB convened a working group meeting on the Global TB Drug Facility (GDF) in New York on 13 July 2000. The group noted the urgent need for progress on the establishment of the GDF. Stop TB is coordinating the preparation of a prospectus outlining the Facility’s rationale and operating mechanisms, which will be presented at a meeting co-sponsored by Stop TB and the Rockefeller Foundation to be held in Bellagio, Italy, from 28–29 November 2000.

• Support to partners: STB staff secondments

Following the success of the Ministerial Conference on "TB and Sustainable Development" and recognizing the need to expand the Stop TB movement, five new posts for partner secondments are available within the Secretariat: Communicable Disease Strategist, Industry Liaison Officer, Drug Facility Officer, Policy Development Analyst, and Management Officer. For further information please contact the Stop TB Secretariat.

• Stop TB Video Series and Discussion Guidelines

Stop TB has produced a series of five videos to support social mobilization efforts:

1. TB/HIV: The dual epidemic [Africa](14:00)
2. DOTS:Frontline heroes to Stop TB [Egypt/India/Nepal/Syria](14:00)
3. TB and Sustainable Development [Global] (9:22)
4. DOTS and Public-Private partnerships [India] (14:00)
5. Shanta: Model Community Mobilizer [India] (14:00)

Discussion guidelines are being developed in collaboration with Healthlink Worldwide and are being field tested by STB partners. Final versions will be available in early 2001. For further information please contact reynoldsk@who.ch

• First meeting of the Working Group on DOTS Expansion, Egypt, 20-22 November 2000

The first meeting of the Working Group on DOTS Expansion organized by WHO will be held in Cairo from 20-22 November. Key participants will be the NTP Managers from the 22 high TB burden countries, Stop TB partners, and the WHO TB staff network. Discussion will focus on country plans to reach the global targets by 2005 or earlier. Technical and resource gaps in these plans will be identified. Stop TB and WHO will aim to ensure that by the end of the meeting, partners will be identified to help address specific gaps, and country-level partnerships will be established to support countries in implementing their plans. For more information contact: Dr Leopold Blanc blancl@who.ch or Dr Mario Raviglione raviglionem@who.ch

• TB/HIV

A special session on TB/HIV will be held on 21 November during the First Meeting of the Working Group on DOTS Expansion in Cairo. This will be a planning session to determine the terms of reference for the TB/HIV Working Group and the meeting objectives of the First Meeting of the TB/HIV Working Group to be held in early 2001.

• DOTS-Plus/MDR-TB

The Green Light Committee of the Working Group on DOTS-Plus for MDR-TB has officially begun its review of project proposals. To date, the Committee has reviewed six potential DOTS-Plus projects for participation in the pooled procurement of concessionally-priced second-line TB drugs. A brochure entitled DOTS-Plus and the Green Light Committee: Improving access to second-line anti-TB drugs will be available by the end of October. For more information contact: Dr Marcos Espinal stoptbboard@who.int.

• Global Alliance for TB Drug Development, Bangkok, 10-13 October

The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development was inaugurated on 10 October 2000 in Bangkok at the International Conference on Health Research for Development. Total funding is expected to exceed US$ 150 million over the next five years. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has announced a grant of US$ 25 million; the Rockefeller Foundation is expected to commit US$ 15 million. The Global Alliance's Scientific Blueprint for TB Drug Development was released on 10 October, and the Alliance has committed to delivering its first new drug by 2010. For more information contact: www.tballiance.org

2. News from partners

• New partners

Stop TB welcomes the Princeton Project 55 Tuberculosis Initiative (TBI) as a new partner. TBI is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to increasing public awareness about tuberculosis, encouraging US leadership in TB prevention and control, and fostering TB vaccine development by enlisting government, foundation, and industry support. For information: http://www.tbinitiative.org

• Massive Effort against diseases of poverty

The Winterthur Health Forum kicked off four days of brainstorming on global advocacy for a massive effort against diseases of poverty. The meeting was organized by the City of Winterthur and co-sponsored by WHO and UNAIDS. Welcoming over 150 advocates from NGOs, development agencies, and the private sector, the Director-General of WHO, Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, challenged delegates to think about how current interventions could be scaled up to tackle the most serious diseases of poverty (malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS). For further information on the Massive Effort visit the Winterthur Health Forum at www.winterthurhealthforum.ch

• European Commission Roundtable, Brussels, 28 September 2000

A statement on "Poverty alleviation through investment in tuberculosis control" signed by Professor Donald Enarson, Director of Scientific Activities of the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease (IUATLD) www.iuatld.org, the Pasteur Institut in Paris http://web.pasteur.fr, and the Max Plank Institut of Infection Biology in Berlin, reminded the EC’s Round Table on Communicable Diseases that TB is everybody's problem and challenged the European Commission, "with a development budget greater than any other governmental external aid budget in the world", to do something about it.

The programme for the Roundtable is available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/development/sector/social/prog_en.htm, List of participating organizations http://europa.eu.int/comm/development/sector/social/instit_en.htm, Text of the EC Communication: http://europa.eu.int/comm/development/sector/social/summ_en.htm, and Briefing note: http://europa.eu.int/comm/development/sector/social/info_en.htm.

• WHO Donors Meeting on TB Control Strategy in the Russian Federation, Moscow, 21-22 September 2000

Recognizing that the TB situation in the Russian Federation is one of the worst in the world—during the past decade TB rates have more than doubled and MDR-TB rates are the highest in the world—this meeting called for urgent measures to continue the implementation of the WHO-recommended TB control strategy. An important goal of the meeting was to achieve consensus among the government of the Russian Federation and donors on developing a plan for expansion of the revised TB control strategy throughout the Russian Federation. A Declaration entitled "Moscow Resolution to Stop TB" was adopted by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, WHO, and National and International Partners.

• "Community TB care in Africa", Harare, 27-29 September 2000

Sixty-five representatives from ten projects in eight countries participated in a three-day meeting held in Zimbabwe on the "Community TB care in Africa project: lessons learned". The meeting was co-organized by WHO HQ and its African Regional Office. Participants included project investigators and mentors from various Stop TB partners. The outcomes of the meeting will be available soon.

• World AIDS Day 1 December 2000 "AIDS: Men Make a Difference"

"AIDS: Men Make a Difference" marks the first phase of a two-year World AIDS campaign focusing on the role of men in the AIDS epidemic. The 2000 campaign has three goals: (1) raising awareness of the relationship between men's behaviour and HIV; (2) encouraging men and adolescent boys to make a strong commitment to preventing the spread of HIV and caring for those affected; (3) promoting programmes that respond to the needs of both men and women. Further information is available from www.unaids.org/wac/2000/campaign.html

• World TB Day 24 March 2001 "DOTS: TB cure for All"

World TB Day on 24 March 2001 calls for equitable access to TB cure for all. "DOTS: TB cure for All" promotes the commitments made by the 20 high TB burden countries in the Amsterdam Declaration to Stop TB to expand DOTS coverage to make DOTS accessible to all those who need it. The World TB Day 2001 campaign has two objectives: (1) mobilizing global political leaders and senior decision-makers to take action against TB; (2) raising awareness that a cure for TB is available and that accessing treatment, without stigma and discrimination, is an important step is realizing one's right to the highest attainable standard of health. Further information is available from /events/world_tb_day/2001/Index.htm.

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