27 April, Almaty, Kazakhstan - Stop TB Partnership and its Global Drug Facility (GDF) met with high level government representatives and TB experts and partner organizations to explore new approaches including the launch of the "Zero TB Cities Initiative" to accelerate elimination of TB in Eastern Europe and Central Asia region.
The Stop TB delegation, led by the Deputy Executive Director, Dr. Suvanand Sahu, met with with Deputy Hakim (Deputy Mayor) of Almaty City, Murat Daribayev, and discussed the launch of a "Zero TB Cities Initiative" in Almaty city. The delegation also particiapted in the international conference titled "New Approaches to the Elimination of the TB Epidemic," which was organized to mark the 85th Anniversary of the National Research Centre of Tuberculosis of the Ministry of Health (MoH), Republic of Kazakhstan in Almaty from 26-27 April.
Dr Sahu, while speaking at the inauguaral session of the conference, highlighted the importance of the upcoming United Nations High-Level Meeting on TB (UNHLM) in September and encouraged participants to urget their country’s leadership to not only attend the UNHLM but also highlight the progress and challenges in order to keep people at the center of the TB response. He emphasized that this is a hiostorical moment for TB and we all must unite to end this global epidemic.
A number of meetings were also organized with Partners to support the operationalization of the nascent National Stop TB Partnership of Kazakhstan which is envisaged to act as a platform for high-level advocacy and coordinated action together with the civil society and all stakeholders in the region.
GDF presented their experience and updates on the introduction of new TB tools in the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region. GDF also held technical meetings with representatives of partners’ organizations and managers of the National TB programs of Moldova, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and discussed ongoing procurement supply issues to ensure uninterrupted access to quality-assured medicines using international and domestic financing, including new medicines, regimens and diagnostic tools. The meetings concluded on a positive note and an agreement to enhance collaboration.
