Vice Minister welcome at Astana Conference TB Meeting Kazakhstan

HOPE Takes Part in High Level Meeting on Cross-Border TB Control

Posted: December 15, 2016

Project HOPE recently participated in the Second Regional High-Level Meeting on Cross-Border Tuberculosis Control in the Central Asian Countries held in Astana, Kazakhstan.

The event was organized as part of the implementation of the Republic of Kazakhstan’s 2014-2020 Comprehensive Plan of TB Control and “Addressing Cross Border TB, M/XDR-TB and TB/HIV Among Labor Migrants,” a program supported by Project HOPE, a primary grant recipient of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. The objective of the meeting was to develop mechanisms for intraregional coordination and interaction in TB diagnostics, treatment and pre-departure orientation for migrant workers.

The Republic of Kazakhstan Ministry of Health and Social Development, Project HOPE, and the Republic of Kazakhstan National Center for Tuberculosis Problems hosted the meeting with financial support from the Global Fund and the United States Agency for International Development. Representatives of government agencies, national TB programs and migration services from the Central Asian countries, Armenia, Russia and Ukraine, as well as experts from the World Health Organization, the STOP TB Partnership, the International Organization for Migration, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the Rutgers University Global TB Institute, and international NGOs and civil society took part in the two-day event.

The meeting participants presented the results of the implementation of the 12-month Action Plan/Road Map, which was developed at the first high-level meeting in 2015 which formulated the mechanisms and subsequent practical steps required for the execution of bilateral agreements on cross-border TB control between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and between Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.

Opening remarks at TB conference in Kazakhstan

“This meeting attests to the commitment of the Central Asian countries to collaboration in TB control not only on the regional level but also on the national level with engagement of all stakeholders: government agencies, international organizations, and the civil society,” said Linda Heitzman, Project HOPE’s Executive Vice President. “We are happy to note that as a result of this dialogue, we have accomplished significant progress toward the signing of bilateral agreements, which will provide long-term mechanisms for effective cross-border TB control.”

The Meeting participants have adopted a resolution summarizing recommendations on specific aspects of the implementation of a patient-centered approach in the treatment of TB among migrants and developed an Action Plan/Road Map that will serve as a guiding document for the country and regional working groups over the next 12 months in preparation for the finalization and signing of the bilateral agreements on cross-border TB control.

News from the Second Regional High-Level Meeting on Cross-Border tuberculosis Control in the Central Asian Countries