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| [ Communiqué ]An update of information from the Stop TB Partnership and our Partners | Issue No.39 – October 2004 |
35th IUATLD World Conference
We are pleased to see the growing momentum behind the support of the Millenium Development Goals and the energy that the various activist groups brought to another successful conference by IUATLD. The momentum and energy generated at this conference is exactly what we need to take forward at country level towards the Stop TB targets. Related Info Advocacy and CommunicationsMedia EventsTB/HIV Working Group meeting, Addis Ababa, 20-21 September 2004The Partnership Secretariat, WHO, Results USA and the Massive Effort Campaign collaborated to organize several media events aimed at highlighting the need for rapid scale-up of TB/HIV collaborative activities in countries with high prevalence of both. The events were promoted with a joint WHO/UNAIDS press release and included: a press conference in Addis, teleconferences with African and USA journalists, and a second press conference in Nairobi for Kenya journalists. The African Union issued a formal letter of support for scale-up efforts which can be found here. For more information contact stoptbadvocacy@who.int. USA tour, Washington- New York- Indianapolis- Los Angeles, 19-29 September 2004
Participation in these and other public events were organized by a variety of US partners including Results USA, American Lung Association, American Red Cross, Centers for Disease Control, Global Health Council, Global Alliance for TB Drug Development, Open Society Institute and others. For more visit: /news/archives/media_tour/ Activist Winstone Zulu on UK tour, 1-14 November 2004Winstone Zulu, Africa's leading TB/HIV activist, will tour the UK to call for accelerating the implementation of collaborative activities between HIV/AIDS and TB programmes - a move that could save the lives of half a million people with HIV in Africa right now. Winstone will meet with MPs, journalists, church representatives, AIDS groups, grassroots activists and the public. The visit is being organized by Results UK and WHO, with the participation of TB Alert, UK Coalition of People Living with HIV, and TBTV.org. Winstone shared a platform at the International AIDS conference in Bangkok with Nelson Mandela, who described him as "an inspiration." Global Drug Facility
First GDF Drug Management consultants workshop, Nairobi, September 2004.GDF now has 16 new Drug Management Consultants based in the African Region. The workshop participants were nominated from Stop TB Partners and included consultants from WHO, The Norwegian Association of Heart and Lung Patients, Damien Foundation and German Leprosy Relief Association. The GDF and MSH intend to continue holding these workshops in other regions in 2005 and 2006. Follow-up evaluation report planned for the TB Global Drug FacilityNearly two years after McKinsey & Company conducted a full scale review of the GDF, a follow-up is planned to review what progress has been made and how well the report recommendations have been implemented since 2003. To view the 38-page evaluation report from April 2003, click here. New PartnershipsStop TB Mexico Partnership launched 7 September 2004Stop TB Mexico was launched by Minister of Health Dr Julio Frenk and Vice-Minister of Health (and Stop TB Coordinating Board member) Dr Roberto Tapia. The ceremony was attended by 250 participants from civil society, international organizations, medical associations, private industry, the Mexican Health System, and NTP managers from AMRO/PAHO countries. Enriqueta Basilio, the first female athlete ever to light the Olympic torch (at the 1968 Games in Mexico), was appointed Goodwill Ambassador of Stop TB Mexico by Dr Frenk and Dr Espinal. For more information on the launch click here (article in Spanish). For more information on national partnerships, contact us here. Over the next few months other new national partnerships are scheduled for launch, including:
TB and the Millennium Development GoalsCall for Comments on Draft Millennium Development Goals ReportNow is the opportunity to raise the profile of TB as part of the MDG health and development agenda. A draft of the UN Millennium Project's final report is available for review and comments. More at: http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/html/about.shtm The final version of the report is scheduled for submission to the UN Secretary-General in January 2005. The Global Plan to Stop TB Part 2 (2006-2015)Work is now underway to develop the 2nd Global Plan to Stop TB for 2006-2015. The Coordinating Board has approved the Plan's outline and the members of the Steering Committee. The contribution of all the Working Groups (WGs) is crucial to the successful development and subsequent implementation of the Plan. The initial step in developing the Plan is to construct possible scenarios for how the regions individually and the world overall can reach the 2015 MDGs relevant to TB (i.e. TB prevalence and deaths halved in comparison with 2000). Dr Chris Dye will lead the work on epidemiological projections. The Stop TB Working GroupsAdvocacy and Communications Working GroupThe Terms of Reference (TOR) and initial members' roster for the new Advocacy and Communications Working Group were endorsed by the Stop TB Coordinating Board at its most recent meeting in Beijing on 14-15 October. The Group's first meeting has been tentatively scheduled for January 2005 in Geneva when it will elect the chair and subgroup vice-chairs, adopt the TOR and operating procedures, and discuss main work streams and 2005 activities. New Diagnostics Working GroupThe Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) has signed its first two development agreements, one with the UK-based Biotec Laboratories Ltd and another with U.S.-based Salubris Inc. FIND’s involvement with Biotec will accelerate the development, evaluation and demonstration of two improved diagnostic tests that use their FASTPlaque technology. One of these tests will enable rapid and sensitive detection of TB in patients seeking a diagnosis, while the other will be used to detect multi-drug resistance directly from sputum. In the other agreement, FIND is investing in a novel TB colorimetric culture medium, TK MEDIUM® from Salubris. This inexpensive technology represents an alternative to existing TB culture media and the aim is to make this available in district level laboratories in developing countries where it could replace the current culture medium. For more information visit:
New Drugs Working GroupThe Global Alliance for TB Drug Development has announced the appointment of Dr Ann Ginsberg as Head of Clinical Development. Dr Ginsberg has 15 years of experience with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) where she last served as Chief of Respiratory Diseases of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and 2 years at Merck where she was most recently Director for Project Management. To read more about Dr Ginsberg's appointment click here. The Global Alliance has also appointed Dr. Zhenkun Ma as Head of Research. A medicinal chemistry expert, Dr. Ma formerly directed anti-bacterial drug discovery and research at Cumbre and Abbott Laboratories. Click here for full detail. TB/HIV Working GroupThe 4th meeting of the TB/HIV Working Group was held in Addis Ababa on 20-21 September, mobilising TB and HIV communities to work together to reduce the burden of HIV-related TB. Membership of this group is broadening with strong representation and support from the HIV/AIDS community and activists. Broad media interest was created thanks to the coordinated efforts of the Stop TB Partnership Secretariat, WHO, UNAIDS, Results USA and Massive Effort Campaign. A full report of the meeting will be made available on the WHO TB/HIV website at http://www.who.int/gtb/policyrd/TBHIV.htm. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant of 44.7 million to go CREATE to support fight against TB/HIVAt the XV International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a $44.7 million grant to the Consortium to Respond Effectively to the AIDS-TB Epidemic (CREATE). At the press conference, Nelson Mandela gave an impassioned speech on the importance of fighting tuberculosis and HIV together, stating that 'we cannot win the battle against AIDS if we do not also fight TB'. The CREATE grant will support research on two potential interventions in communities with high HIV infection rates - improved case finding, and isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT). CREATE will use the grant to conduct large-scale community studies over seven years in Zambia, South Africa and Brazil. Institutions participating in CREATE include the Johns Hopkins University Center for Tuberculosis Research, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Aurum Health Research in South Africa, the University of Zambia, South Africa’s Stellenbosch University, the Municipal Health Secretariat of Rio de Janeiro, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For more information visit:
New Vaccines Working Group
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In This IssueHot TopicsNew Coordinating Board Vice-Chair - Mr Tariq Farooq
Fall 2004 Coordinating Board Meeting
WHO HTM Cluster Newsletter (HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria)Volume 1, October 2004 New Communique FormatThe Stop TB Partnership Communique provides vital news and information for the TB community. As such, the Secretariat has formalized its production schedule and updated its format and delivery. Questions or comments? Let us know New PublicationsA guide to monitoring and evaluation for collaborative TB/HIV activities.WHO/HTM/TB/2004.342 Guidelines for HIV surveillance among tuberculosis patients. Second edition.WHO/HTM/TB/2004.339 Toman's tuberculosis : case detection, treatment, and monitoring : questions and answers. 2nd ed.WHO/HTM/TB/2004.334 TB Brief guide to the Report of the 2nd ad hoc Committee on the TB epidemic.PDF - 232KB Global Drug Facility FactsheetsPDF fact sheets on the Stop TB Partnership Global Drug Facility. Tuberculosis. Manual for Medical StudentsWHO/CDS/TB/99.272 Management of Tuberculosis Training for Health Facility Staff
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The 35th IUATLD World Conference on Lung Health took place from the 28th of October to the 1st of November 2004 at the Palais des Congrès, Paris. Thanks to IUATLD for hosting another catalyzing event in TB and lung health. 
From 20 to 29 September, Stop TB Executive Secretary Marcos Espinal traveled to four major US cities to meet with key US legislators, Stop TB partners, stakeholders and the media to raise awareness and advocate for increased funding for TB. More than 12 editorial board meetings and interviews were conducted with such media organizations as Newsweek, Associated Press, Scripts Howard News Service, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, LA Times, Washington Times, National Public Radio, Indianapolis Star, Evansville Courier Press, Fort Wayne Sentinel and the Voice of America. Five stories have been published to date with firm commitments for an additional five articles or news features to be published in the coming weeks.
The GDF would like to thank Stop TB Partners who have contributed technical assistance to 100 GDF missions to date.
The new Stop TB New Vaccines Working Group information pack by will be distributed at 35th IUATLD World Conference.
We welcome Mr Tariq Farooq as the new Vice-Chair for the Stop TB Coordinating Board. 
The Fall 2004 Coordinating Board Meeting was held in Beijing China. Full detail can be found 
