A 2-day Regional meeting on improving access and availability of medicines for TB and DR-TB in the European Union and the European Economic Area took place in Berlin.
Participants discussed how EU/EEA countries can work together with global partners to support access to TB medicines in the region, legislative aspects of procurement and registration of new medicines, as well as further action and joint advocacy work to bring globally available drugs into the EU. The outcome of the meeting was the development of a roadmap with further clear steps to ensure barrier-free and timely access to new TB medicines in the EU.
The intersectoral event was organized by the Government of Germany and the WHO Regional Office for Europe on 3-4 June 2024. 29 countries were represented at the meeting, including the ministries of health, national regulatory authorities, TB physicians, procurement specialists, representatives of civil society and community organizations, global partners and others.
TB Europe Coalition Board members - Paul Sommerfeld, Stefan Radut and Christina Celan - took part in the meeting in-person while TBEC Secretariat staff joined online. The obtained during the event knowledge will provide an important basis for TBEC’s planned initiative with partners to create a working group on access to TB medicines in Eastern Europe.

