The Stop TB Communiqué is issued monthly by email to global partners in order to share information on progress in the global partnership movement to stop TB. Partners are invited to submit news items, progress updates, 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.lungusa.org. Stop TB is a partnership hosted by the World Health Organization www.who.int.
Throughout the Stop TB Communiqué, "DOTS" is used as a brand name in its broadest sense as an umbrella term for all DOTS-based strategies, including DOTS-Plus for MDR-TB and expanded strategies to address TB/HIV.
1. NEWS FROM THE SECRETARIAT
The Director-General of WHO has appointed Dr Arata Kochi as Director of HIV/AIDS Care and Support with immediate effect. As Director of Stop TB and previously as Director of the WHO Global TB Programme, Dr Kochi played a key role in placing TB high on the global health agenda, in packaging and promoting DOTS, and in mobilizing partners and resources. Dr Kochi's leadership and vision over the last decade have been of crucial importance, strengths that will now be lent to the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Dr Jacob Kumaresan has been appointed as Acting Coordinator of the Stop TB Secretariat to ensure that ongoing activities continue as planned without interruption, in particular building the partnership, establishing the Global TB Drug Facility (GDF), clarifying the governance of Stop TB, and publishing the Global Investment Plan (GIP).
Successful meetings were held between key stakeholders and countries during the First Meeting of the Stop TB Working Group on DOTS Expansion in Cairo from 20–22 November. A clear consensus was reached. There is a need to move quickly to fast track pilot projects over the next 6-7 months. A core technical group led by Dr Kumaresan and Dr Kibuga will further the development of proposals on operations and governance options of the GDF.
For further information please contact the Stop TB Secretariat at stoptbinfo@who.int.
The consultation and review phases carried out during October have been successfully completed. Approximately 45% of those consulted returned comments. An outline for the governance structure of Stop TB has been developed based on consensus around four general points: (1) the recommended governance structure for the Stop TB partnership should be brought into action as soon as possible; (2) the role of WHO as distinct from the Stop TB Secretariat should be clarified; (3) there is a need for accountability, transparency, and decentralization; and (4) there must be major representation of high TB burden countries. A draft final document will be available shortly.
For further information please contact Kevin Lyonette, Sustainable Development Services, 1a sentier des Morettes, 1197 Prangins, Switzerland, Telephone +41 (22) 361 9739 Fax +41 (22) 361 8164 lyonette@bluewin.ch.
Following a call to partners for secondments of senior staff to the Stop TB Secretariat, we are pleased to announce the first secondment from Management Sciences for Health (MSH). MSH is a non-profit organization strengthening health programmes worldwide. MSH is supporting Stop TB by sharing the responsibility for issues relating to drug procurement and supply in the development of the Global TB Drug Facility (GDF). Three senior MSH staff are assisting in this process, one of whom has been seconded full-time. This commitment from the partnership will enable Stop TB to strengthen its actions towards operationalizing the Amsterdam Declaration to Stop TB. We look forward to receiving similar support for staff secondments to the Secretariat from other global partners.
For further information please contact the Stop TB Secretariat at stoptbinfo@who.int.
Stop TB•News is a quarterly publication intended to facilitate the broader sharing of information from the field and country experiences that support the aims of DOTS expansion. In recognition of World AIDS Day on 1 December, the theme of Issue 2 is TB and HIV/AIDS. Issue 2 features a special supplement on DOTS Success Stories from EMRO, the host of the Cairo meeting. The contributions of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and EMRO are gratefully acknowledged.
In the future Stop TB•News will be a full-colour printed document produced in collaboration with the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD). Guest editorials and feature articles are welcomed.
Following a presentation on the global World TB Day 2001 campaign by the Stop TB Senior Communications Adviser at the Winterthur Massive Effort Advocacy Forum, four recommendations were agreed for the global theme "DOTS: TB Cure for All": (1) campaign messages should be targeted to reach policy-makers, the general public, and people who are directly affected by TB (such as TB patients and health care workers); (2) the theme must be adapted at country level; (3) innovative news angles must be used to promote the theme; and (4) the campaign needs to encompass events that can be sustained throughout the year.
The theme of the Stop TB 2001 Annual Report is "TB and Human Rights". The report will be launched on World TB Day. The Stop TB Secretariat welcomes contributions to the report from partners. Please send examples of projects, case studies or data relevant to discrimination in access to TB services—including access to information, case studies reflecting TB-related stigma—or examples of projects, including innovative communications approaches that reflect positive successes in overcoming legislative, social or economic barriers to TB services to the Stop TB Secretariat at stoptbinfo@who.int.
Representatives of the National Tuberculosis Programmes of the 22 high TB burden countries, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and donor countries committed to TB control participated in the First Meeting of the Stop TB Working Group on DOTS Expansion. The meeting focused on developing country-level plans as well as a Global DOTS Expansion Plan among the high TB burden countries and partners in order to reach global targets by 2005 or earlier, as agreed at the Amsterdam Ministerial Conference on "TB and Sustainable Development". Country partnerships and coalitions to stop TB were established to mobilize national and external resources to support national plans on DOTS expansion. The meeting was organized by WHO and hosted by the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO).
A successful special session on TB/HIV at the First Meeting of the Stop TB Working Group on DOTS Expansion agreed upon terms of reference for a working group on TB/HIV and objectives for the first meeting to be held in early 2001.
The brochure DOTS-Plus and the Green Light Committee: Improving access to second-line anti-TB drugs is now available online on our documents page and may be ordered from the WHO/CDS Information Resource Centre at cdsdoc@who.int. Please quote reference number WHO/CDS/TB/2000.283 when ordering. This brochure describes the goals of the Green Light Committee and how projects can qualify as DOTS-Plus pilot projects in order to benefit from concessionary prices negotiated for second-line anti-TB drugs.
2. NEWS FROM PARTNERS
Stop TB welcomes three new partners: Family Health International (FHI), Management Sciences for Health (MSH), and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).
FHI is a non-profit private voluntary organization working to improve global reproductive health particularly in developing countries.
MSH is a non-profit private educational and scientific organization working to close the gap between knowledge and action in public health.
RCN is a professional union of nurses providing higher educational training, promoting research, and representing the UK on international bodies.
A meeting organized by WHO/HQ and WHO/AFRO was held in Harare from 27–29 September 2000 to evaluate community contributions to effective TB control and review lessons learned in eight district-based projects in six high HIV prevalence countries. Five recommendations emerged from the meeting: (1) successful community contribution requires close collaboration with a TB programme that has the essential service elements in place and has maximized the decentralization of health facility provision of TB care; (2) managerial expertise is essential in linking the TB programme, general health services, and community care providers and in ensuring the decentralization of logistics of TB control; (3) a good situation analysis is necessary to identify the appropriate community care providers; (4) training of community care providers should focus on a limited number of activities, and supervision should be frequent and supportive; and (5) it is necessary to identify the context-specific motivation of community care and ensure ongoing motivation to sustain their activities.
The project findings and recommendations will contribute to WHO global guidelines on community contribution to TB care to be published in 2001.
3. UPCOMING EVENTS
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