Stop TB Partnership - ACSM at Country Level

The Need

As the landscape of TB changes globally, so must the advocacy and communication efforts aimed at reducing the global burden of TB. Data analysis by WHO indicates that while the target for cure rates can be reached by 2005, case detection is likely to plateau at around 50% given prevailing trends. To go beyond this level, DOTS programmes and public health authorities must begin to recruit patients from non-participating clinics and hospitals, notably in the private sector in Asia. A special effort must also be made to improve cure rates in Africa by going beyond the present limits of public health systems. Communication and social mobilization, which have been largely absent in most TB programmes until now, will play a key role in meeting these challenges.

At the same time as case detection rates are stagnating, the funding landscape for global TB control is rapidly changing. As support to countries has increased from the GFATM, certain bilateral donors and other new mechanisms, the challenges include maintaining momentum and effectively directing rising aid flows to fill specific gaps. More technical assistance is needed at country level to ensure funding achieves maximal impact. In regions with high HIV prevalence, joint advocacy with the HIV/AIDS movement is needed to promote collaborative TB/HIV activities to ensure a continuum of prevention, treatment and care for co-infected people. And there continues to be a sizeable funding gap for research and development of new TB drugs, diagnostics and vaccines, which are vital to reaching the MDGs and in the long term elimination of TB as a public health threat.

Current advocacy and communication efforts must be modified to address the new landscape of TB globally. In the broadest sense, innovative and adaptable advocacy and communication must challenge the narrow perception that TB is a biomedical problem for public health authorities to solve rather than a complex socioeconomic issue requiring broad societal engagement, especially in countries with poor public health infrastructures.

The Formation

The Experts' Consultation on Communication and Social Mobilisation (Cancun, June 2003) as well as the Stop TB Advocacy and Communication Task Force (Johannesburg, September 2003) strongly recommended that a formal entity be established within the Stop TB Partnership to facilitate the development, implementation and evaluation of TB advocacy and communication interventions under the Global Plan to Stop TB. An external evaluation of the Stop TB Partnership conducted in mid-2003 similarly recommended that serious consideration be given to establishing such a body to better support the needs of the Stop TB movement. In response to these recommendations, the Stop TB Coordinating Board authorized the creation of an Advocacy and Communication Working Group in March 2004.

This sub-group will provide guidance and support for in-country programme communication and social mobilisation to improve TB case detection and treatment compliance. Key areas of work will be strengthening the communication capacities of NTPs and other existing and potential country-level partners, and facilitating formation of national partnerships to generate greater civil society support for TB.

Past news and events

All 12 GFATM Proposals Forwarded Onto Technical Review Panel

25 July 2005 (Geneva) All 12 of the GFATM 5th round proposals containing ACS components using the ACS framework distributed at the Cairo Consultants Workshop have been forwarded to the GFATM Technical Review Panel (TRP). The GFATM TRP is the second step in the formal review and approval process that will conclude at the GFATM Board meeting in September.

The TRP is currently reviewing proposals from the following countries which include ACS components that were catalyzed by the Cairo workshop and partners.

The current 5-year price tag of all these ACS components is an estimated $102 million. A special congratulation goes out to the consultants and partners who contributed to the creation of these robust proposals.

ACS Proposals Top $100 Million for Round 5 of the GFATM.

On 10 June 2005, more than 10 countries submitted ACS proposals to the 5th round of the GFATM requesting more than $100 million for ACS activities over five years. These proposals were a direct result of GFATM workshop organized by the Stop TB Partnership Secretariat and the Centre for Communications Programs at JHU held in Cairo, Egypt in April 2005. During this workshop, trained a cadre of 10 ACS consultants were trained in the GFATM application and how ACS can be incorporated. Following this workshop and in close collaboration with partner organizations JHU, PATH, KNCV, WHO and WHO-EMRO more than 12 consulting missions were organized to assist countries in drafting ACS components to their GFATM applications. Results of the 5th round will not be known until the GFATM Board meets in September 2006.
GFATM/ACS Resources can be found here.

The Second Global Plan to Stop TB (Strategic Communication in Countries)

The first draft of the Strategic Communication in Countries, prepared for the Second Global Plan to Stop TB, is ready for peer review and comment. Drafted by Will Parks of JTAI, the draft plan lays out a 10-year plan of action detailing ways advocacy, communications and social mobilization at the country level can contribute to the achievement of national TB control targets. The plan recommends that national TB programs commit between 5-15% of their budgets for ACS activities. This is still a draft and review and comment are strongly encouraged.
Click here for the draft.
Please send comments to: stoptbadvocacy@who.int.

Past news and events

Special Feature:

Sub Group on Advocacy, Communication and Social Mobilization at Country Level: MEETING NOTICE. 13-16 September 2005. Ministry of Health, Mexico City, Mexico.

Special Feature:

TB Advocacy, Communication and Social Mobilization Consultant Workshop for Global Fund Proposal Development 5-7 April, Cairo, Egypt (Resource Centre)