January 2001, Fifth issue of the Stop TB Communiqué

STOP TB COMMUNIQUE

Issue 5, 24 January 2001

1. NEWS FROM THE STOP TB PARTNERSHIP SECRETARIAT

The consensus document on the Stop TB partnership governance mechanisms has been finalized and sent to partners together with requests for nominations for the interim Coordinating Board. Responding to the call made in the "Amsterdam Declaration to Stop TB", the proposed mechanisms for governance reflect a set of arrangements through which the global partnership to stop TB can be consolidated to support countries in their efforts to accelerate action against TB. "Stop TB Partnership Governance Mechanisms" will be available shortly from /stop_tb_initiative/index.html#Governance

For further information please contact the Stop TB Partnership Secretariat at stoptbinfo@who.int.

Following approval of the governance proposal, an interim Stop TB Coordinating Board meeting will be held to consider the future management framework, the Global TB Drug Facility, the Global Investment Plan, and the plan for Stop TB activities in 2001. The meeting, hosted by the Rockefeller Foundation, will be held in Bellagio, Italy, from 20–22 February.

For further information please contact the Stop TB Partnership Secretariat at stoptbinfo@who.int.

The Core Technical Working Group (CTG) for the GDF comprising 13 representatives from Member countries, donors, technical agencies, and industry has held several teleconferences to finalize the GDF prospectus and create two background papers on governance options and resource mobilization for the GDF. A meeting to finalize these papers will be held in Washington, DC, from 29–30 January.

Application forms for the GDF pilot projects have been sent to WHO Regional Offices. Applications should be returned to Stop TB by 28 February 2001. A list of nominations for a Technical Review Committee to review and prioritize applications has been circulated to partners for approval. Countries eligible for this first round of support will be announced on World TB Day, 24 March 2001.

For further information please contact the Stop TB Partnership Secretariat at stoptbinfo@who.int.

The Stop TB Partnership Secretariat continues to seek support from partners for staff secondments in order to support global action towards operationalizing the "Amsterdam Declaration to Stop TB". Please contact the Stop TB Partnership Secretariat at stoptbinfo@who.int for further information.

DOTS Expansion

Work is progressing on the report of the Cairo meeting that profiles for each of the 22 high TB burden countries the epidemiological, control, and financial situation, medium-term plans of action, budget, and gaps to be filled, together with a list of agencies and institutions that have agreed to provide support. The report will facilitate identification by potential investors of areas to be supported and provide a sound basis, derived from transparent country information, for monitoring progress towards full DOTS coverage. The report will be available in March 2001.

The second meeting of the Working Group will take place in Paris, France, on 31 October 2001.

DOTS-Plus/MDR-TB

The Working Group on DOTS-Plus/MDR-TB will meet in Lima, Peru from 25-27 January 2001. The meeting objectives are to report on the following areas: (i) progress of the working group; (ii) progress of projects at country level; (iii) research priorities for MDR-TB; (iv) progress on work on access to second-line drugs for MDR-TB. The meeting will help WHO to formulate its future international policy on the management of MDR-TB in resource-limited settings. Policy guidelines will be issued by WHO in two to three years' time after the data from pilot projects around the world are evaluated in terms of efficacy, feasibility, and cost-effectiveness.

The Green Light Committee will meet on 23 January. A 'PARTNERS' meeting will be held on 24 January.

Exactly one year after the Cape Town meeting that led to the development of the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development, the Board of Directors will meet from 6–7 February - again in Cape Town - to review 105 preliminary funding proposals received by the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Alliance. Following further review and selection of firm proposals in April, the first investments will be made in June 2001—a demonstration of the remarkable speed with which the Alliance has formed, raised funds, and initiated activities.

Further information is available from the Alliance website at www.tballiance.org

2. NEWS FROM PARTNERS

Stop TB welcomes the International Federation of Anti-Leprosy Associations (ILEP) to the global partnership movement to stop TB. ILEP is an NGO dedicated to the eradication of leprosy and all its consequences.

Further information is available from the ILEP website at http://www.ilep.org.uk

3. TB IN THE NEWS

The Director-General of WHO opened the 107th Executive Board with a statement on TB:

"TB affects people the poorest and weakest of us. It impoverishes those it afflicts. Treatments exist, but the search for means to reduce people's vulnerability to illness goes far beyond the reach of any health ministry. An effective response calls for resources, for an informed society and a functioning health system in its widest sense."

The full text of the "Statement by the Director-General to the Executive Board at its 107th session" is available from http://www.who.int/wha-1998/EB_WHA/PDF/eb107/EE2.pdf

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Confirmation Hearing on Secretary of State-Designate Colin Powell included comments on TB:

"General Powell: Mr Chairman, these are very exciting times and the State Department will do its best to assist President-elect Bush as he leads America's foreign policy. We understood also that there are cross-cutting issues that don't simply fit in any one region, . . . whether it's the tragedy of AIDS and tuberculosis and other similar scourges that are facing mankind.

Senator Boxer: . . . And we talked about also tuberculosis, and since I know you've discussed the AIDS question and I know how dedicated you are to helping particularly the developing countries, I wanted to put some facts out there on tuberculosis because sometimes we don't realize the threat that it is. And with the chairman's help, we started on this path of more funding and if we can reach some agreement on how to get even more help though non-profit agencies, maybe we can continue. There are nearly two million TB-related deaths worldwide each year. One third of the world, as I mentioned to you yesterday, is infected with tuberculosis, one-third. Someone in the world is newly infected with TB every single second. Each year 8 million people worldwide become sick with TB. Three million are in South-East Asia. Another 1.5 million occur in sub-Saharan Africa. TB is the world's leading killer of women age 15 to 44. Three times as many women in this age group die from TB than die from HIV-AIDS and we know that a horrific epidemic. … Nearly 40 percent of the TB cases in the United States are attributable to foreign-born individuals. So we have a tremendous responsibility, it seems to me, not only a moral responsibility, but to our own people to help and as we look at what our priorities are this year, Mr Chairman and members of the committee, I hope we can work together."

4. CALENDAR OF EVENTS

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.

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