On 11 November, Fanny Voitzwinkler of Global Health Advocates and Coordinator of the TB Europe Coalition chaired the second meeting of the Regional Collaborative Committee on TB organised by WHO Europe in Copenhagen.
RCC-TB is a unique regional mechanism that was set up in November 2012 and aims to gather all TB stakeholders of the region (donors, international organisations, national authorities, civil society, the private sector etc..) to discuss challenges and strategize on opportunities that only such a diverse partnership could address.
The meeting gathered the Steering Committee* of RCC-TB and WHO country offices across the European region and aimed to develop an Action Plan for the RCC-TB for the year 2014.
Key areas of action that were identified by the RCC-TB for 2014 are
- High Level political advocacy at regional level
- Synergies between TB and HIV at all levels
- TB epidemic among vulnerable groups
An Action Plan with concrete activities is being drafted by the Steering Committee and will be implemented throughout 2014.
Key activities include:
- the drafting of fact sheets that will be used for advocacy purposes throughout the region:
- HIV-TB models of integration
- involvement of civil society in TB control
- models and cost-effectiveness of outpatient care
- mapping of actors throughout the region
- enlargement of the RCC-TB membership with the help of communication materials.
Specific activities will also be implemented on the side and during the Union Regional Conference in Sofia in June 2014 and the Union World Conference in Barcelona in November 2014, such as a platform for National TB Programmes and civil society collaboration and field visits.
We would strongly encourage any TB related organisation in the European region to become a member of the RCC-TB. To request membership, please send a simple email with the name of your organisation to: tuberculosis@euro.who.int
More information and background on the RCC-TB can be found on its new web page: http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/communicable-diseases/tuberculosis/activities/regional-collaborating-committee-on-tuberculosis-control-and-care-rcc-tb.
You can read the Terms of Reference of the RCC-TB here
Photo: Group work – defining priorities of Action on high level advocacy
*The Steering Committee of the RCC-TB is composed of TB Europe Coalition, USAID, the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation, the German STOP TB Forum, the Koch-Metschnikow Forum, Act for Involvement Moldova and the Lilly Foundation. The Secretariat of RCC-TB is provided by WHO Europe.
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