WHO Launches New Stop TB Strategy To Fight The Global Tuberculosis Epidemic

WHO Launches New Stop TB Strategy To Fight The Global Tuberculosis Epidemic

March 17, 2006

DOTS strengthened by a six-point strategyto achieve the 2015 TB-related Millennium Development Goal

    LONDON, Geneva, March 17 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- A new
strategy to fight one of the world's leading killers --
tuberculosis (TB) -- was launched today by the World Health
Organization (WHO).

    The new "Stop TB Strategy" addresses the
current challenges facing countries in responding to TB --
how to continue scaling-up TB control activities while also
addressing the spread of TB and HIV coinfection and
multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB).  Both TB/HIV, especially
in Africa, and MDR-TB, particularly in Eastern Europe, are
seriously hampering global control efforts to reduce the
1.7 million deaths caused by TB every year.

    At the strategy's core is DOTS, the TB control approach
launched by WHO in 1995.  Since its launch, more than 22
million patients have been treated under DOTS-based
services.  The new six-point strategy builds on this
success, while recognizing the key challenges of TB/HIV and
MDR-TB.  It also responds to access, equity and quality
constraints, and adopts evidence-based innovations in
engaging with private health-care providers, empowering
affected people and communities and helping to strengthen
health systems and promote research. 

    "DOTS remains central to TB control.  Without it
we would have no TB control.  But with DOTS programmes now
established in 183 countries, the new Stop TB Strategy
injects new energies to make efforts more comprehensive and
effective," said Dr Mario Raviglione, Director of WHO's
Stop TB Department.  "The Stop TB Strategy aims to
ensure access to care for all TB patients, to reach the
2015 Millennium Development Goal for TB and to reduce the
burden of TB worldwide."

    The Stop TB Strategy, published in the 17 March issue
of the Lancet medical journal, was developed during a
consultation process involving international health
partners over a two-year period. Its six components are: 

    1.Pursuing high-quality DOTS expansion and enhancement.
Making high-quality services widely available and accessible
to all those who need them, including the poorest and most
vulnerable, requires DOTS expansion to even the remotest
areas. 

    2.Addressing TB/HIV, MDR-TB and other challenges.
Addressing TB/HIV, MDR-TB and other challenges requires
much greater action and input than DOTS implementation and
is essential to achieving the targets set for 2015,
including the United Nations Millennium Development Goal
relating to TB (Goal 6; Target 8). 

    3.Contributing to health system strengthening. National
TB control programmes must contribute to overall strategies
to advance financing, planning, management, information and
supply systems and innovative service delivery scale-up. 

    4.Engaging all care providers. TB patients seek care
from a wide array of public, private, corporate and
voluntary health-care providers. To be able to reach all
patients and ensure that they receive high-quality care,
all types of health-care providers are to be engaged. 

    5.Empowering people with TB, and communities. Community
TB care projects have shown how people and communities can
undertake some essential TB control tasks. These networks
can mobilize civil societies and also ensure political
support and long-term sustainability for TB control
programmes. 

    6.Enabling and promoting research. While current tools
can control TB, improved practices and elimination will
depend on new diagnostics, drugs and vaccines.  

    The new Stop TB Strategy underpins the Global Plan to
Stop TB, 2006-2015, an ambitious US$ 56 billion action plan
launched in January.  If fully implemented, the Global Plan
will treat 50 million people for TB, halve TB prevalence
and death rates and save 14 million lives.

    "We must involve a much broader array of actors in
TB control and adapt DOTS to HIV coinfection, MDR-TB and
other special challenges if we're going to achieve the 2015
targets of the Global Plan, which is exactly what the new
Stop TB Strategy calls for," said Dr Marcos Espinal,
Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership.  "The
strategy is robust and is also inclusive."

    Details of the new Stop TB Strategy are published in
this week's issue of the Lancet as part of a special TB
essay focus prior to World TB Day, which is held every year
on 24 March.  
  
    For more information, please contact: 

     Glenn Thomas,
     Communication Officer, Stop TB, WHO 
     Tel:   [phone] 
     E-mail: [e-mail]

SOURCE  World Health Organization (WHO)