Stop TB Partnership | Partners' Forum 2004

Partners' Forum 2004

Theme: "Keeping the Pledge"

Even as the TB epidemic continues to worsen, donor commitments made in Okinawa, Washington and Amsterdam are still not being met for elements of the Global Plan to Stop TB, especially for research and development of new tools and for the highly successful Global Drug Facility. The theme and supporting messages will leverage the positive performance of the Stop TB Partnership and growing threat of TB/HIV and other factors to highlight the need for renewed commitment to the pledges "now more than ever".

Key documents:

Outcomes:

A stronger partnership to Stop TB:

Improvements based on the Partnership evaluation
Consensus developed on priorities for action
Methods for developing and strengthening country partnerships developed
New partnerships with private sector/civil society, including patient

Consensus on approaches to reaching the global TB targets:

Response to 2nd Ad-hoc Committee on the status of TB epidemic
Pledges of high-level political commitment and operational support
Reinforced commitment of current partners and developing new partnerships with other public sectors and the private sector / civil society

Objectives:

Generate interest by global and national media in the Forum and the war on TB
Utilize the Forum to create pressure for strengthened political commitment and financial support to Stop TB objectives
Emphasize the need for funding to support all of the constituent elements of the Global Plan, ie. R&D for new TB drugs, diagnostics and vaccines, DOTS expansion, TB/HIV, MDR-TB, GDF
Deepen understanding about the relationship between the Global Plan and Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM)
Highlight successful national TB programmes as models of progress, innovative approaches and the benefits of investing in TB control
Exploit the Forum to activate partners and country programmes in collaborative communications and advocacy activities
Report on progress of the Partnership and implementation of the Global Plan to Stop TB since the 1st Stop TB Partners’ Forum in October 2001.
Accelerate efforts to address country constraints that are hampering efforts to reach the TB targets & MDGs
Emphasize the need to focus on Partnership development and strengthening at country level
Incorporate non-governmental (private / civil sectors) in the implementation of Stop TB activities
Highlight the human face of TB through involvement of people who have been afflicted by TB and HIV/AIDS.

Invitees:

Total of maximum 300 invitees
Ministerial Delegations from 22 high TB-burden countries (HBC): Afghanistan, Brazil, Bangladesh, Cambodia, People's Republic of China, DR Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Russian Federation, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Viet Nam, Zimbabwe. (3 delegates per country including Ministers of Health & Finance)
High-level representatives of Stop TB Partners: Dr LEE Jong-Wook (Director General, WHO), Dr James D.Wolfensohn (President, World Bank), Mr George Soros (OSI), Dr Peter Piot (Executive Director, UNAIDS), Dr Carol Bellamy (Executive Director, UNICEF), UNDP, Ministerial Delegations of donor countries
Stop TB organizational Partners: head of the offices (at their own expense)
Special Invitees include: Mr Kofi A.Annan (Secretary General, United Nations), Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mr Bill Gates, Indian Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, The Gorbatchev Foundation, Former President Nelson Mandela , Graça Machel (President, Foundation for Community Development, Mozambique), Princess of Thailand, Princess of Bhutan, Professor Richard G.A.Feachem (Executive Director, GFATM), Nobel Prize Laureate Amartya Sen
"High-level invitees" from various regions, patient groups, experts from consultations, Five TB endemic countries that have reached the 2005 targets(Cuba, Maldives, Morocco, Peru and Viet Nam)

Background

With the Amsterdam Declaration in 2000 and the Washington Commitment in 2001, we have finally secured the political commitment and operational mechanisms needed to control TB and are poised to make rapid progress against the disease towards reaching the 2005 targets.

But the Stop TB partnership faces major challenges that require engagement of entities outside of the regular TB community, including human resources for health, primary care services, sustainable finances, social mobilization for health, and private and corporate sector involvement. The 2nd Stop TB Partners' Forum will provide a timeline and act as catalyst to address the above challenges.