Conference and workshop on addressing ethical issues in tuberculosis programmes with a special focus on social determinants

The National School of Public Health of Greece, the WHO Departments of Ethics, Equity, Trade and Human Rights and Stop TB, and the WHO Regional Office for Europe jointly organized a conference and workshop on “Addressing ethical issues in tuberculosis programmes with a special focus on social determinants” in Athens, from 10 to 12 May 2010. The objectives of the meeting were:

i) to raise awareness of ethical issues in tuberculosis (TB), with a focus on social determinants (SD) and equitable access to care, human rights, and legal aspects;

ii) to train participants in how to detect and address these issues in their national programmes;

iii)  to produce concrete suggestions for implementation at a national level.

The event was attended by participants from 11 Eastern European and Central Asian countries and from Greece. The main outcomes of the conference and workshop were the increased awareness of the participants and the opportunity to express their needs in receiving further guidance and training and undertaking country research. WHO was requested to support countries in developing laws and regulations, training and education, involving civil society and vulnerable groups and integrating programmes (e.g. TB control and alcohol abuse). It was also requested that WHO ensure follow-up directly with the participants of the workshop and through annual workshops on TB, SD and ethics.