Stop TB Ambassador Anna Cataldi visits Iran

12 April 2010 - Tehran, Iran - Stop TB Ambassador Anna Cataldi today completed the second leg of her mission to the Eastern Mediterranean region with a four-day visit to Iran.

On a visit to the Masih Daneshvari Hospital, a TB referral centre, she participated in the 31st session of the Iranian Stop TB Committee. She also met with the Secretary General of the Iranian Stop TB Committee and Deputy Director of the National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD).

The mission included another visit to the Shaheed Ahmadi Health centre in the southern portion of Tehran. Ms Cataldi was accompanied by Dr Mahshid Nasehi, Iran's National TB manager, Dr. Hashemi, TB coordinator-physician in the Health Office of Tehran University; and Shadi Khalilolahi, coordinator of the Iranian Stop TB Committee.

Ms Cataldi participated in core discussions on enhancing TB control in Iran by strengthening public-private partnership, broadening collaboration with neighboring countries and working closely with UN agencies to address issues related to TB in refugee groups.

At a press conference held at the WHO office Ms Cataldi briefed journalists on her visit and all she had experienced in Iran, including visits with MDR-TB patients, discussions with women serving as community volunteers on TB and a tour of a lab using cutting edge diagnostic tests for MDR-TB. Ms Cataldi's visit was widely covered by local media.