Preparations are under way for the First Stop TB Partners Forum to be held in Washington, DC from 22 to 23 October 2001. The meeting, which will be hosted by the World Bank, has five stated objectives: (i) to report on progress since the Amsterdam Conference on Tuberculosis and Sustainable Development (Amsterdam, March 2000); (ii) to further accelerate efforts to operationalize the Amsterdam Declaration to Stop TB; (iii) to address the urgent issue of TB and HIV/AIDS; (iv) to launch the Global Plan to Stop TB; and (v) to formally endorse the supporting mechanisms for the Stop TB partnership. Expected outcomes include consensus on the way forward for the global partnership; reinforced commitment to implement the Amsterdam Declaration to reach global targets for TB control by 2005; and strengthened partnership activities to stop TB.

An invitation will be sent to all Stop TB partners shortly.

The next meeting of the Coordinating Board will take place on 24 October 2001 in Washington, DC. A teleconference will be held on 24 July 2001 to discuss the Global TB Drug Facility, Memorandum of Understanding, and the preparations for the Partners Forum.

• Task Force on Communications and Advocacy

A meeting on communications and advocacy was held in Atlanta, USA from 30 May to 1 June 2001. The meeting, which was attended by advocacy and communications experts working on TB control, considered the following objectives: (i) consensus on key messages to promote greater harmony and consistency in the overall communications strategy; (ii) promoting an understanding of Stop TB strategies and priorities; (iii) coordinating events, tools, and activities to strengthen advocacy and communications activities, including World TB Day campaigns; (iv) determining the functions of the Task Force on Communications and Advocacy.

A subgroup met on 1 June 2001 to finalize drafts of a Stop TB communications and advocacy plan; an advocacy and communications planner for the global plan to Stop TB; and the terms of reference. Some 18 major conclusions and recommendations and the draft terms of reference agreed at the Atlanta meeting will be submitted to the Stop TB Coordinating Board.

• Global TB Drug Facility (GDF) and interim GDF pilot projects

Eight international suppliers of TB drugs have been identified through a process of pre-qualification and invited to tender to provide drugs for the GDF. Four suppliers submitted bids, and MEG/Svizera was selected. A press release on reductions in prices for TB drugs will be issued shortly

The first countries to benefit from drugs supplied by the GDF will be Kenya, Moldova, Myanmar, Somalia, and Tajikistan. A second round of applications is now in progress. Applications must be submitted by 15 July 2001 for consideration by the GDF Technical Review Committee, which will meet in late July 2001.

• WORKING GROUPS

UNGASS and Stop TB
A United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS entitled "Global Crisis—Global Action" will take place in New York, USA from 25 to 27 June 2001. The UN Secretary-General has issued a "call to action" in the fight against HIV/AIDS. IUATLD/Stop TB will organize a side event, "Tuberculosis and HIV", on Monday 25 June from 11:30 to 13:00 at the UN auditorium in New York. Partners attending the UNGASS meeting are encouraged to support the statement to be issued by the IUATLD. Extracts are reproduced below:

"Statement on TB and HIV/AIDS

The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD) on the occasion of the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS commends: the allocation of global funds for the care, treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS, TB and other infectious diseases as a necessary response to the devastating health and economic burden that many low-income countries bear due to these diseases.

. . . IUATLD therefore requests that in the declaration of commitment on HIV/AIDS:

- TB be specifically recognized as the most common opportunistic infection, which has a major impact on the health and lives of people with HIV/AIDS, yet can be cured at low cost.

- Expansion and improvement of the DOTS strategy for TB control, including the support of the Global TB Drug Facility, be acknowledged as an integral part of our efforts to confront the TB and AIDS epidemics and funds be allocated accordingly."

Workshop on community involvement in HIV/AIDS/TB care
Stop TB partner the Norwegian Heart and Lung Association (LHL) http://www.lhl.no/ and the Copperbelt Health Education Project in Zambia (CHEP) facilitated a workshop in Kitwe, Zambia from 2 to 6 May 2001 entitled "Community involvement in TB and HIV/AIDS care".

Further to a pre-study carried out by LHL in 2000, LHL and CHEP visited projects in UR Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and South Africa to assess the need for expansion and the possibilities of shared learning in the region. Some 40 participants from a variety of organizations from the four countries, including NGOs, INGOs, WHO, and government representatives, attended the workshop to share information and experiences; network; discuss strategies to promote better access to TB treatment and care; and share experiences on cooperation between government and civil society. The workshop issued the following statement regarding community involvement in the fight against TB and HIV/AIDS:

"Political committed leadership is a key to the fight of HIV/AIDS and TB. Community involvement in TB/HIV care should complement government efforts in control of the spread of TB and HIV. Government should maintain their public health role, and not delegate that to the civil society. Public health should be based on a human rights approach. It is therefore the responsibility of the government to put in place a well-structured National TB/HIV Programme under the DOTS strategy, which incorporates home-based care as an essential component. The TB/HIV dual epidemic is a global emergency, which requires national and international support.

In resource-poor settings, integrating TB and HIV control at the community level is a practical and cost-effective approach to manage the dual epidemic. Experience shows that there is little collaboration between organizations working in the fields of HIV and TB in the community. For the future, there is need for more collaboration with clear roles between stakeholders and the process needs to be continuously evaluated.

. . . Upon return to respective countries from this workshop, participating organizations will brief relevant authorities and stakeholders. National and regional networks will be established by participating organizations through e-mail communication and ways of establishing an interactive website will be explored. Coordinating organizations will be chosen for both national and regional network including organization of the review workshop."

Global TB/HIV Working Group
The First Meeting of the Global TB/HIV Working Group was held in Geneva from 9 to 11 April 2001. The Working Group agreed 12 draft summary recommendations, which are to be considered next steps at international and national levels for more effective collaboration between national HIV and TB programmes in support of general health service providers, as follows:

1. The Working Group endorses the principles set out in the WHO/UNAIDS strategic framework for TB/HIV, and requests its finalization, publication, and dissemination.

2. Working Group partners should develop and implement a strategy for working with national governments and developing capacity to deliver district-based joint TB/HIV activities. The joint TB/HIV activities should be part of an essential package of HIV/AIDS prevention and care activities, consistent with consensus documents developed at regional and global levels.

3. Working Group partners should promote enhanced collaboration at international, national, and district levels between those involved in TB control and those involved in HIV care and prevention.

4. Working Group partners should promote district-level activities (including ProTEST projects) aimed at establishing the feasibility of enhanced collaboration between TB and HIV programmes.

5. WHO and UNAIDS should continue to support the ProTEST Initiative in collaboration with ProTEST Initiative partners in: (a) identifying more sites and brokering more funds to establish more projects; (b) convening a writing group to develop guidelines for establishing ProTEST projects; and (c) developing a comprehensive evaluation framework.

6. Working Group partners should identify examples of effective TB/HIV joint activities for wide dissemination, e.g. through the Stop TB Partnership website.

7. UNAIDS should put forward at the UN general assembly on HIV later this year, and WHO should put forward at the next World Health Assembly, resolutions highlighting the need for joint TB/HIV activities.

8. Working Group partners should collaborate with other advocates in seeking increased resources for joint TB/HIV activities.

9. WHO and UNAIDS should include joint TB/HIV activities in the Initiative to Accelerate Care (for PLWH).

10. WHO and TDR should develop a joint mechanism to promote implementation of a prioritized TB/HIV research agenda.

11. Working Group partners should consider the specific needs of people in complex emergencies in planning joint TB/HIV activities.

12. Working group partners should promote the human rights approach to HIV/AIDS and to TB in their fields of activity.

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 Partnership 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.