Yesterday…

We began our second day of tbNET with two remarkable and complementary presentations. Professor Donald Enarson gave us a birds eye view of TB control around the world - both in the present and from the past. The falling prices of drugs (capitalism doesn't always work for capitalists!) and the improvements of TB control programmes in some developing countries are very encouraging - but there is still a great deal of work to be done. An example of how this work can be conducted in a community based TB control programme was then presented to us by Akramul Islam of BRAC, which works in partnership with the government of Bangladesh, and provides TB control services though a network of female community health volunteers. Issues of sustainability and co-ordination with the government featured in the discussion that followed.

…and Finally

An interesting mix of presentations to finish off tbNET97! We begin with Bob McDermott from the advocacy unit of the WHO Global TB Programme, challenging us to think more about the role of advocacy in TB, in a world of dwindling resources for disease control. A related challenge to our current thinking will come from Klaus Jochem, of the Nuffield Institute for Health. Klaus will discuss the relationship between NGOs, government programmes, and the private sector, in an era of health sector reform.

We have two alternative presentations in the afternoon. First an issue of controversy! Should TB and Leprosy Programmes combine? Virendra Lal Karn of the INF TB Leprosy Programme will discuss this issue, based on experience in the Mid-west Region of Nepal. Or you can discuss TB control in urban areas with Dr Bhawana Shrestha from the German Nepal TB Project, based here in Kathmandu.

We have two sessions to conclude tbNET97. First, what have we achieved? We will hear a brief report from each of the groups, with answers to the questions posed, and recommendations for the future.

And the future is the topic in our final session. Where do we go from here? What is the future of tbNET? Can we link up as a network of interested organisations to share information and experiences? How can we build on our experiences of the last 3 days?

Please come ready to give your feedback about this conference and your ideas for the future. Let's get a vision for tbNET!

 

Today's Programme

09:00-10:30 Building coalition WHO and NGOs in TB Control

Presenter: Mr R McDermott, WHO

Facilitator: Mr David Stevens UMN

10:30-11:00 Tea/Coffee Break

11:00-12:30 Changing Faces, Changing Roles NGOs, NTPs and the Private Sector

Presenter: Dr K Jochem, NIH

Facilitator: Professor D Enarson, IUATLD

12:30-14:00 Lunch Break, tbNET Resource Centre Visits

14:00-15:00 Main Hall

A Mariage of Convenience? Combining TB and Leprosy Programmes

Presenter: Mr VL Karn, INF

Facilitator: Dr KB Shrestha

Hall 2

Life In the City Urban TB Control

Presenter: Dr B Shrestha, GENETUP

Facilitator: Mr DB Pradhan, NATA

15:00-16:00 What Have We Achieved Recommendations from the Groups

16:00-16:30 Tea/Coffee Break

16:30-17:30 Where Do We Go From Here?

Speaker's Corner

We heard from 2 speakers yesterday. Dr Wesley from India asked us to consider the role of NGO run institutions in TB control. Dr Kumar deputy director TB Centre told us about TB in the SAARC region, and made several interesting points such as the major role of the private sector in several of the seven SAARC countries - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Today we will hear brief remarks from 2 people - Dr Agnes Gebhard, who comes from Holland, but works in Vietnam, will begin, and later in the morning we will hear from Dr Prakash Kumar Roy of World Vision, Bangladesh.


Around the World

We continue to receive comments and responses for our discussion questions from around the world Philippines, Ethiopia and the UK. Here are a few comments from AHRTAG:

Dear friends - thanks for involving us in the conference - it is a pleasure to see such a participatory forum, and such a concern for working in a participatory way with marginal and disadvantaged groups, and collaborative work with government and NGOs. Gone are the days when the word 'control' is appropriate for public health concerns!

When researching materials for the recent AHRTAG publications on TB and HIV, and on children, we found very little on community based prevention and education, gender concerns, on tackling stigma associated with TB, and on integrating NGO roles with the need for adherence/follow-up. We look forward to finding out more from conference participants.

We do hope our package of TB publications arrived, and that our partner HIAN in the Philippines, sent copies of the Asia Pacific edition. Please urge participants to contact us for extra copies.

Best wishes

Nel Druce, AIDS programme, AHRTAG, UK


Writing on the Wall

Your last chance to write down your thoughts!! Write them down on the board on the terrace. Here's a few comments we're received from all around the world:

Please include ALERT as an e-mail only correspondent. Many thanks,

Dr. Paul Saundeson,
ALERT, Ethiopia

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My name is Dr. Henrietta Collier from the Centre for Health Studies of the Liverpool John Moores University in the U.K. I have worked with in TB control in Sierra Leone and would like to share in this exciting conference.

Thanks and all the best for the conference.

Henrietta

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Sharing the issues and questions through EM system is very nice.

Dongil Ahn, Philippines

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Thank you for your invitation to us for participating in the conference on NGO involvement in TB control.

In this regard, we regret our inability to participate in the said week-long conference as we are busy in a very important and urgent work at the moment.

We would however, like to take this opportunity to wish you success for the conference.

Redd Barna-Nepal