Scope and purpose

11th National Tuberculosis Programme Manager’s Meeting 
London, United Kingdom 
2-3 July 2012 

Background

 Over the past 15 years, regular meetings have been held with the managers of National Tuberculosis Programmes (NTP) of the WHO European Region. These meetings have been organized by the WHO Regional office for Europe in collaboration with various partners including KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation (Wolfheze Workshops), the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and WHO headquarters. These meetings have witnessed the progressive merging of priorities for tuberculosis (TB) control intervention among all 53 Member States of the Region. Multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB is a growing challenge across the Region. This has lead to a new interest in identifying and addressing the risk factors and social determinants of TB and a greater focus on innovative approaches for TB prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care.

In October 2007, the endorsement of The Berlin Declaration on Tuberculosis renewed political commitment to Stop TB in the WHO European Region. The Consolidated Action Plan to Prevent and Combat M/XDR-TB in the WHO European Region 2011-2015, which was unanimously endorsed along with its accompanying resolution (EUR/R61/R7) by the 53 Member States of the WHO European Region in the 61st Regional Committee, was launched in Moscow in October 2011 during the Millenium Development Goal 6 (MDG-6) International Forum.

WHO/Europe organized the 11th NTP Managers’ Meeting back to back with the the 6th Conference of The Union Europe Region. The NTP Managers' Meeting provides an excellent opportunity to discuss the challenges and opportunities shared by all countries in the Region to fulfil the above commitments and achieve the MDG-6 by 2015 and discuss the post 2015 StopTB strategy.

Scope and purpose

  1. Present and discuss newly-established regional mechanisms for coordination and collaboration in TB control.
  2. Provide a follow-up on specific issues raised during the last NTP Managers’ Meeting held in 2011 in The Hague, The Netherlands.
  3. Provide an update on the progress made in implementing the 2007 Berlin Declaration and the Consolidated Action Plan to Prevent and Combat M/XDR-TB in the WHO European Region, 2011–2015.
  4. Discuss the preliminary outline of the post-2015 StopTB Strategy.
  5. Discuss efficient financing of TB services.