05 February 2013 - Geneva - Community activists are gathering in Geneva this week to agree on the steps required to achieve greater community engagement in the fight against tuberculosis (TB).
The group, composed of 30 past and present members of the Community Task Force (CTF), has set itself several assignments for completion during the three-day meeting, which is being hosted by the Stop TB Partnership.
Chief among these tasks is the development of an action plan for extending the reach of the CTF and increasing its impact. The meeting also aims to redefine the objectives and structure of the CTF in light of the recently published operational strategy for the Stop TB Partnership Secretariat.
In an "open house" session on 6 February, the community representatives will meet with staff from the Stop TB Partnership’s Global Drug Facility to agree on the role they can play in preventing drug stock outs.
Later, they will meet with Global Fund teams to discuss how communities affected by TB can be better represented in Country Coordinating Mechanism’s (CCMs). CCMs are partnerships that develop and submit grant proposals and oversee progress on implementation.