DOTS EXPANSION WORKING GROUP

Hightlights

DEWG Annual Meeting 2008: Engaging Professional Associations in TB care and control

In several countries professional associations are a powerful ally of national TB programmes. They have a broad sphere of influence among health care providers and are a potential conduit through which private clinicians may be reached in a systematic way. Mobilization of professional associations in TB control programmes could facilitate in speeding up the process of linking private practitioners effectively to national TB programmes.

On 15 October 2008, at the occasion of the Union Conference, the DOTS Expansion Working Group (DEWG) in collaboration with the World Health Organization and the American Thoracic Society (ATS) organized a meeting specifically to sensitize and mobilize leaders of health professional associations for active collaboration in TB control. This is the first time a global effort has been undertaken to promote collaboration between professional associations and national TB programmes. This effort builds on the public-private mix initiatives in place in many countries and the International Standards of Tuberculosis Care (ISTC) as an useful advocacy and technical tool.

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