Stop TB Partnership

Iraq launches National Stop TB Partnership

27 June 2012 - Sulaimaniyah, Iraq - The National Tuberculosis (TB) Control Programme of the Iraqi Ministry of Health has launched a National Stop TB Partnership.

The Partnership brings together more than 20 organizations including government bodies, private sector companies, non-governmental organizations and media organizations.

"Tuberculosis causes loss of human life and poses a threat to the development process in Iraq. It is a curable disease. No one in Iraq should die of tuberculosis," said Her Excellency Mrs Hero Ibrahim Ahmed, the First Lady of Iraq and the World Health Organization Patron for TB, at the launch. "To achieve this, diverse partners have come together to jointly mobilize their capacities, driven by their determination to stop the spread of TB," she said.

The Iraqi partnership was established with the support of the World Health Organization Iraq Office and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

"This fight against TB cannot be the sole responsibility of only one entity" said Dr Syed Jaffar Hussain, Representative of the World Health Organization in Iraq. "It is the collective responsibility of the nation. By keeping the National Stop TB Partnership dynamic, creative and interactive, it will unify the actions of all those people who believe that TB can be eliminated in our lifetime."