Over 130 participants from countries, partners and civil society joined the annual meeting of the Stop TB Working Group on Public-Private Mix (PPM Working Group) for TB prevention and care. The meeting, held on 25-26 June in Dhaka, Bangladesh, was convened by WHO and the Stop TB Partnership with support from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Global Fund. The meeting was opened by Dr Tereza Kasaeva, Director of WHO’s Global TB Programme and Dr Madhukar Pai, (previous) Chair of the Stop TB PPM Working Group. TB survivor and advocate – Ms Vivian Faith - shared her personal journey in combating TB and called for increased engagement of all care providers to close gaps in access to quality prevention and care services.
The new members and leadership of the PPM Core Working Group were introduced at the close of the opening session, and the new Chair Dr Mohammed Yassin and Vice Chair Dr Vijayashree Yellappa were felicitated. The transitioning Chair Dr Madhukar Pai and Vice Chairs William Wells and Lal Sadasivan were profusely thanked for their years of service.
A spotlight was also placed on innovations and tools for enhancing private-public sector engagement in TB for greater impact, with three specific panels: on screening and diagnostics, TB prevention, and innovations. At the close of the day, a special PPM Roundtable on historical perspectives and lessons on sustainability was held, as well as on the TB PPM Learning Network.
An interactive marketplace showcasing national progress from 17 countries in the implementation of the PPM Roadmap, was held featuring a poster-display, along with discussions and brief presentations by country teams.
The second day began with field visits to six PPM sites in Dhaka to learn from realities and key PPM models on the ground. The visits covered screening and diagnostic sites run by BRAC and ICDDRB, Birdem Hospital on TB and diabetes collaborative activities, Dhaka Medical College and a garment factory TB PPM workplace model. This was followed by a country session focused on PPM progress in Bangladesh and an interactive panel on contracting for TB/health services, different modes of partnerships, and evolving realities. The day closed with a mapping of key priorities for the PPM Working Group looking ahead. At the close of the meeting, representatives from national TB programmes, partners, and civil society commended the work of the PPM Working Group and WHO and pledged to accelerate PPM efforts in countries.
The first meeting of the new PPM Core Group was held on the evening of 26 June, to discuss key priorities for 2024-2025 for the Working Group.
