The Stop TB Partnership, with support from Unitaid, will lead RESPECT (Reshaping People-Centric Empowered Community-led DR-TB Treatment), a new project aimed at mobilising and strengthening the role of TB-affected communities and civil society in increasing the demand for and uptake of drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) services and tools. RESPECT will leverage Stop TB Partnership’s Challenge Facility for Civil Society (CFCS) to increase community engagement and demand for DR-TB services and tools in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Moldova and Pakistan, while also supporting national networks in their efforts to advocate for budgets and policies, promote literacy and stigma reduction initiatives, and conduct community-led monitoring using the OneImpact solution for enhanced accountability. The Stop TB Partnership will be joined by REACH in India, DOPASI in Pakistan, DRAF TB in Cameroon, PAS Centre in Moldova, and Club des Amis Damien in the Democratic Republic of Congo as consortium partners to advance this important work at the country level.
RESPECT will be implemented by the Stop TB Partnership in close collaboration with KELIN and Partners in Health as part of an overall investment of USD 15.3 million from Unitaid to strengthen community-led action on DR-TB in 16 countries. By empowering those most affected, these community-led initiatives aim to collectively increase demand for, address barriers to, and thus improve access to the new World Health Organisation (WHO)-recommended all-oral, shorter treatment regimens for DR-TB—a critical shift from the older regimens that could last up to two years and required painful daily injections.
“Despite recent progress in science resulting in better diagnostics and shorter treatment regimens for DR-TB, more than half of the people with this potentially fatal disease are not detected and put on life-saving treatment. I believe that this investment in communities affected by DR-TB will be a game-changer. We thank Unitaid for believing and investing in TB-affected communities, even more now, in these funding-deprived environments.” — Dr. Lucica Ditiu, Executive Director, Stop TB Partnership.
“Too often, the latest innovations in drug-resistant TB testing and treatment do not reach all populations who need them. “Community networks can help us to reach beyond the healthcare system and drive demand, reduce stigma and ensure equitable access to the latest tools.” - Dr. Philippe Duneton, Executive Director of Unitaid.
“We all have a right to health and to live with dignity. Ensuring access to quality diagnosis and treatment regimens that better meet the needs of people affected by TB is critical in our fight to end DR-TB. As we know, all too often, it is many TB key and vulnerable populations that face significant barriers to access DR TB services. I applaud these investments in community-led initiatives that will result in more people accessing these new treatment regimens, that barriers to access will be removed, and ultimately, that more lives will be saved.” - Oxana Rucsineanu, TBpeople Member and MDR TB Survivor, Moldova.
Key highlights:
Project RESPECT is designed to have a transformative impact on DR-TB care. It is expected to stimulate demand while identifying and eliminating barriers to ensure access to life-saving diagnosis, treatment and prevention services to everyone in need.
It will raise awareness and build capacity of communities to drive demand creation, supported by the development of community-led monitoring, training, advocacy, and communication tools. It will also engage the broader health systems and the private sector.
These tools will ensure the creation of appropriate and tailored literacy and communication materials for various stakeholders, including communities, healthcare providers, and local governments, with necessary language translations for wider reach. They will be made available as global resources.
Coordinated campaigns will be conducted at both national and subnational levels to promote the uptake, access, and awareness of the DR-TB package of care.
