A large-scale interregional project, COMBAT DR-TB, funded by Unitaid, has been launched in three countries of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region. The TB Europe Coalition (TBEC) is coordinating the 3-year project in the region.
Over the next three years, in Moldova, Tajikistan, and Ukraine, as well as in three African countries (Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria), the following activities will be carried out:
Awareness-raising and educational activities at the community level on drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) testing and treatment; Development and launch of the “DR-TB Watch” system to monitor the implementation of WHO-recommended DR-TB treatment regimens; Development of roadmap steps and goals to improve the DR-TB cascade; Increased engagement of healthcare workers and TB survivors in annual meetings, webinars, and documentation of key lessons learned; Improvement and expansion of the "OneImpactUkraine" digital platform in Ukraine to monitor DR-TB treatment effectiveness and capture lessons learned; Development and presentation of policy recommendations regarding the use of AI-based diagnostics by civil society organizations; Documentation and dissemination of lessons learned on the implementation of the WHO Multisectoral Accountability Framework to End TB (MAF-TB) in EECA and African countries for future use; Conducting MAF-TB baseline assessments and creation or strengthening of national multisectoral MAF-TB coordination and review mechanisms; Development of MAF-TB implementation plans and indicator matrices to promote engagement across sectors in the TB response; Organization of MAF-TB reviews with the participation of decision-makers to promote urgent multisectoral action and ensure accountability of all stakeholders; Adaptation and piloting of data collection tools, with integration of community engagement indicators into national TB digital data systems; Educational activities and a journalist competition aimed at raising awareness about DR-TB in participating countries; and more.We wish our civil society partners great success in achieving the ambitious goals of the project: Moldova Society Against Tuberculosis/SMIT (Moldova), TBPeopleUkraine (Ukraine), KNCV in Tajikistan, and Stop TB Partnership Tajikistan (Tajikistan). We also thank the National TB Programs and other national partners for their support and readiness to collaborate!
In just a few weeks, TBEC, in partnership with WHO and KELIN, will host an interregional meeting in Kenya to exchange experiences on MAF-TB implementation, bringing together multisectoral delegations from all six project countries.
