The World Bank will host the Stop TB Partners' Forum in Washington, DC on 22–23 October 2001. The meeting 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.

• Stop TB (interim) Coordinating Board

Members of the Stop TB (interim) Coordinating Board held a teleconference on 26 April 2001. Eight weeks after the successful Bellagio meeting, the teleconference provided an opportunity to report on developments and to guide the progress of the Stop TB partnership. Members discussed four items: (i) Global TB Drug Facility (GDF) recommendations of the Technical Review Committee; status of negotiations of the Memorandum of Understanding between WHO and the Board; development of a sub-group of the Board to oversee the operations of the GDF; (ii) Stop TB framework and development of the terms of reference for the working groups and for the Advocacy and Financing Task Forces; mechanisms for nominating Board members; (iii) Stop TB Partners' Forum; (iv) Stop TB Strategic Plan. The Board commended work on the GDF and pledged its continued support for the future activities of the global partnership.

• Communications/Advocacy Task Force

The first meeting of the Task Force on Communications/Advocacy will take place in Atlanta, USA on 30 May–1 June. Expected outcomes include a workplan of communications/media activities in the lead up to the Global Partners' Forum; a strategic plan for communications/advocacy of the Stop TB partnership for 2005; suggestions for World TB Day 2002; and further outlining of the terms of reference of the Task Force on Communications/Advocacy.

• Global Plan to Stop TB

The February 2001 meeting of the Stop TB Coordinating Board called for the creation of a Strategic Plan for the partnership, building on the work that has gone into the development of the Global TB Investment Plan. Immediately following a meeting of the editorial committee of the Global TB Investment Plan in New York at the beginning of May, a workshop on strategic planning was held in Atlanta from 2–3 May to initiate development of a Global Plan to Stop TB. The workshop was attended by about 25 representatives from the Stop TB Coordinating Board, Working Groups, and the Global TB Investment Plan editorial committee. They drafted a structure for the Global Plan, proposed strategic objectives for the period 2001-2005, and recommended a process for further development.

This plan will be developed over the next five months and a final draft presented at the Stop TB Partners' Forum in October. The plan will be developed in collaboration with partner countries and organizations. In order to ensure the planning process includes as many partners as possible, drafts in development will be made available on the Stop TB website for comment and feedback. We will also send out a questionnaire to all partners, with the aim of identifying ways in which different partners can become involved in implementing this Global Plan.

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

Following the GDF Technical Review Committee (TRC) meeting held in mid-March 2001, five countries were offered conditional support from the GDF. In order to finalize the terms and conditions of GDF grants, country visits are being carried out to each of these countries. The aims of the country missions are to brief senior government officials and other stakeholders on the role of the GDF; to explain the implications of a GDF grant; to confirm fulfilment of the conditions for GDF support; to confirm information provided in the GDF application form; to assist countries fulfil conditions, including development of a plan of action if necessary, and to ask for clarification where necessary. The country missions will provide an understanding of the current TB drug procurement and distribution system within each country. Visits have taken place to Tajikistan, Moldova, and Myanmar and in the next month to Kenya and Somalia. Reports will be available in the forthcoming weeks.

The first round application forms and notes were significantly revised as a result of feedback from partners, applicant countries, and the TRC. The revised second round application form was sent to WHO regional advisers on 15 May. The closing date for applications is 16 July. The TRC will meet in Geneva on 25–26 July to prioritize applications.

• WORKING GROUPS

DOTS Expansion

The Global DOTS Expansion Plan (GDEP) CountryProfiles.pdf. was launched during the Fifty-fourth World Health Assembly on 14–22 May 2001. The GDEP provides the first assessment of the resources necessary to expand DOTS coverage in the 22 countries with the highest burden of TB. A press briefing attended by the Executive Director of the WHO Programme on Communicable Diseases and the Minister of Peru was held on 16 May.

"$1.5 BILLION NEEDED TO MEET TB CONTROL TARGETS IN HIGHEST BURDEN COUNTRIES. An extra $400 million per year would make quality medicines and treatment services available to at least 70% of the world’s 8 million new tuberculosis (TB) cases each year. Currently, only 23% of TB patients worldwide have access to these services. $300 million of the extra money needed is for the 22 highest-burden TB countries alone. In a report released [on 16 May], WHO provides first-time estimates of the cost of reaching global TB control targets by 2005 (70% of TB cases detected, 85% of those successfully treated). The report, entitled "The Global DOTS Expansion Plan, Progress in TB control in 22 high burden countries, 2001", estimates that nearly US$1 billion per year is needed to control TB in the 22 highest-burden countries. The majority of these resources are provided by country governments themselves. Donor grant funds at present account for less than 5% of the total. But overall, there is still a $300 million annual shortfall in the 22 countries - or $1.5 billion over the next five years – which will need to be made up if the 2005 targets are to be met."

TB/HIV

Following the first meeting of the Global TB/HIV Working Group in Geneva, 9-11 April 2001, work is underway to develop a Working Group workplan that will indicate the planned activities of partner agencies over the next 5 years. Among these activities, the WHO Stop TB Department plans to: 1) coordinate the development of guidelines for establishing ProTEST projects (aimed at promoting HIV Voluntary Counselling and Testing as an entry point to access to a range of TB and HIV prevention and care interventions, with the goal of decreasing the burden of HIV-related TB); 2) pursue the implementation of ProTEST projects more widely than the current limited number of projects mostly in Southern Africa; 3) undertake mathematical modelling to evaluate the potential impact of interventions (such as TB preventive treatment, intensified TB case-finding, and Highly Active AntiRetroviral Therapy) on HIV-related TB, in order to inform the development of a prioritized package of TB/HIV interventions; 4) finalize the new WHO/UNAIDS strategic framework for TB/HIV; 5) seek a secondment from a partner agency to help coordinate the work of the Working Group.

A five-year workplan of the Working Group is in preparation. The next meeting of the Green Light Committee will take place on 1 June 2001 in Talinn, Estonia.

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.