Tuberculosis

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• Switzerland launches strategic plan to prevent and control tuberculosis
  03-05-2012
  In line with the WHO Regional action plan to prevent and combat multidrug- and extensively drug-resistant TB (M/XDR-TB), Switzerland has developed a national strategic plan for 2012–2017 aimed at controlling the disease's incidence, transmission and impact.
• Progress towards Millennium Development Goals 4, 5 and 6 in the WHO European Region: 2011 Update
  20-04-2012
  As called for by Regional Committee for Europe Resolution EUR/RC57/R2, this report constitutes the biennial update on the progress made towards the health-related Millennium Development Goals in the European Region. It draws on the most recent data sources available, as of July 2011, for Millennium Development Goals 4, 5 and 6 on, respectively, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, and combating HIV/AIDs, malaria and other diseases (including tuberculosis).
• Turkmenistan bans sale of anti-tuberculosis drugs without prescription
  20-04-2012
  As a result of joint efforts by the country and the WHO Regional Office for Europe, the ban took place as of 12 April 2012.
• Increasing capacity to treat multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Belarus
  12-04-2012
  From 2 to 6 April 2012 a mission to Belarus organized by WHO/Europe provided technical assistance aimed at increasing the capacity of tuberculosis (TB) specialists to treat multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB).
• WHO publishes "Electronic recording and reporting for tuberculosis care and control"
  30-03-2012
  Updated policy guidelines on collaborative TB/HIV activities are replacing the WHO recommendations on HIV-related TB issued in 2004.
• WHO discusses diagnostic definition of "totally drug-resistant" tuberculosis
  30-03-2012
  The Stop TB Department of WHO convened a technical consultation in Geneva on 21-22 March 2012, back-to-back with an Expert Group meeting evaluating existing drug susceptibility testing methods for first- and second-line anti-TB drugs.
• Tuberculosis success stories from Belarus
  23-03-2012
  In recent years, the national tuberculosis (TB) programme of Belarus has been through a reform process to implement international standards of TB care.
• World TB Day 2012: Twitter chat
  23-03-2012
  Experts from WHO/Europe and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control answered questions during a live Twitter chat as part of activities for World TB Day 2012. Discussions covered tuberculosis incidence in the Region, treatment and care of patients including children, and the development of drugs and vaccines. 
• World Tuberculosis Day 2012: Stop TB in my lifetime!
  22-03-2012
  On the occasion of Dr Robert Koch announcement of his discovery of the cause of tuberculosis, 24 March 1882, the world commemorates the World Tuberculosis Day each year to raise awareness of the problem of TB and measures to address them.
• Record rates of MDR–TB investigated during external review of the national TB programme in Belarus
  21-03-2012
  In a recent survey in Minsk, one-third of newly diagnosed and two-thirds of TB patients returning for treatment were found to have MDR- TB. With over 4 000 new cases of TB reported in 2010, Belarus is already one of 18 high-priority countries in the WHO European Region. A subsequent mission to Belarus was organized from 28 February to 2 March 2012.
• European Tuberculosis Laboratory Initiative
  20-03-2012
  The World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe and the Global Laboratory Initiative announce the establishment of the “European TB Laboratory Initiative (ELI)".
• New report: tuberculosis (TB) on the retreat in Europe, though concerns remain about drug-resistant strains and treatment failure
  19-03-2012
  To mark World TB Day, 24 March 2012, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and WHO/Europe launch their joint report, “Tuberculosis surveillance and monitoring in Europe 2012”.
• Join the live Twitter chat on tuberculosis
  16-03-2012
  Experts from WHO/Europe and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control will be answering your questions about tuberculosis during a live Twitter chat on Tuesday 20 March 2012, from 15:00 to 16:00 UTC/GMT.
• WHO updates policy on collaborative TB/HIV activities
  07-03-2012
  The new policy guidelines are revising the previous TB/HIV interim policy published in 2004 and are based on the new evidence generated from research.
• WHO, EC and StopTB Partnership strengthen collaboration
  28-02-2012
  WHO/Europe, in collaboration with the StopTB Partnership and WHO headquarters, organized a joint visit of the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy to Stop TB, President Sampaio, to the European Commission on 22 February 2012.
• Are prisons in Europe healthy?
  27-02-2012
  Over 2 million people across the WHO European Region are in prison. Prisoners are at greater risk of HIV, tuberculosis, poor mental health and drug addiction than people outside. Three short films look at health in prisons in Azerbaijan, Denmark and Kyrgyzstan.
• First subregional workshop on rapid TB diagnosis and rifampicin resistance
  18-01-2012
  This meeting was held by the GeneXpert System in Almaty, Kazakhstan, 15-16 November 2011.
• Tuberculosis that is “resistant to all drugs”: frequently asked questions
  16-01-2012
  WHO's Stop TB Department has just published a briefing note with frequently asked questions, to provide information on tuberculosis that is resistant to all drugs.
• Workshop on anti-TB drug resistance surveillance: 30 November - 1 December, Copenhagen
  30-11-2011
  The workshop, "Anti-TB Drug Resistance Surveillance and Recording and Reporting of Anti-TB Drug–resistant Patients" has an overall objective to strengthen the surveillance of anti-TB drug-resistant tuberculosis and their treatment outcome monitoring.
• Antibiotic resistance: what is not measured, is not done. Surveillance to be strengthened throughout Europe
  17-11-2011
  The two most common antibiotic-resistant bloodstream infections – methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and resistant Escherichia coli – caused 8215 excess deaths (5503 and 2712, respectively) in 31 European countries in 2007.
• WHO/Europe launches road map to halt spread of drug-resistant tuberculosis
  10-10-2011
  Today, WHO/Europe launches the road map to prevent and combat multidrug- and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (M/XDR-TB) for the 53 countries in the WHO European Region.
• WHO reviews tuberculosis programme of Belarus
  10-10-2011
  On 10–21 October 2011, a WHO mission is reviewing Belarus’ national tuberculosis (TB) programme in health care facilities in the city of Minsk and the regions of Minsk, Gomel and Vitebsk.
• TB Road map and action plan to be launched in Moscow
  04-10-2011
  The new Road map and action plan to prevent and combat drug resistant TB in the European Region will be launched 10 October 2011, at the International MDG-6 Forum, in Moscow, Russian Federation, where donors, international agencies and health decision-makers from Europe will discuss accelerated action to reach the Millennium Development Goal 6.
• European Member States show new resolve in tackling multidrug-resistant TB
  14-09-2011
  This week, at the sixty-first session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe, held in Baku, Azerbaijan, the 53 countries that make up the governing body for the WHO European Region are set to endorse an ambitious and rigorous action plan to combat multidrug- and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (M/XDR-TB).
• Collaboration cemented between WHO/Europe and Global Fund
  12-09-2011
  Today, WHO/Europe and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria exchanged letters and initiated a joint operational plan for 2011/2012.
• Meet the members of the Green Light Committee for the WHO European Region (GLC/Europe)
  25-08-2011
  In response to the need for scaling up the programmatic management of drug resistant tuberculosis in the WHO European Region, the Green Light Committee for the WHO European Region (GLC/Europe) was established. Meet the new members of the committee for 2011-2013.
• Real stories of people living with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis
  20-06-2011
  WHO/Europe is working closely with nongovernmental and civil society organizations to address Tuberculosis (TB) and multidrug- and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (M/XDR-TB). Médecins Sans Frontières has engaged with people receiving treatment for MDR-TB from around the world to allow them to tell their stories, their difficulties in accessing and receiving care and their opinions on what they think is needed to help improve TB services.
• WHO/Europe establishes Green Light Committee
  10-06-2011
  The WHO European Region faces a major problem with multidrug resistant tuberculosis. In response to the need for scaling up the programmatic management of drug resistant tuberculosis in the WHO European Region, the Green Light Committee for the WHO European Region (GLC/Europe) is being established. 
• Tobacco-control legislation: already saving lives
  30-05-2011
  The evidence shows that tobacco legislation is working. Confounding its early critics, it is already saving lives and improving health across the WHO European Region. Studies from countries that enforce bans on smoking in public places are finding reductions in heart attacks. Exposure to tobacco smoke contributes to cardiovascular diseases, cancer and tuberculosis, and the scientific literature indicates that, just a few months after the implementation of smoke-free laws, the hospitalization rates for myocardial infarctions decrease by 20–40%.
• Meetings and workshops in The Hague to be webcast
  19-05-2011
  WHO/Europe is organizing three meetings and workshops in The Hague, The Netherlands from 23 May to 27 May 2011. These events will be available to view through webcast.
• Review of the national tuberculosis programme in Ukraine
  18-05-2011
  WHO/Europe has just published a new report which reviews the national tuberculosis programme in Ukraine.
• Addressing HIV/AIDS and TB through strengthening health systems in Tajikistan
  28-04-2011
• WHO/Europe and Global Fund reinvigorate partnership
  18-04-2011
  During discussions on 14 April 2011, Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe, and Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, agreed on immediate joint interventions to address multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in the WHO European Region.
• Drug resistance survey to be implemented in Turkmenistan
  18-04-2011
  According to two recent reports published by WHO/Europe, only 39 cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) were detected in 2009 out of an estimated 160 patients with MDR-TB in Turkmenistan.
• Call for applications: “The Green Light Committee for the WHO European Region", 2011-2013
  14-04-2011
  The Stop Tuberculosis (TB) Partnership and the World Health Organization announce a call for applications for members to serve on “The Green Light Committee for the WHO European Region (GLC Europe)”in 2011-2013.
• World Tuberculosis (TB) Day 2011 in Turkmenistan
  07-04-2011
  World TB Day 2011 was celebrated with a number of activities in Turkmenistan.
• World Tuberculosis (TB) Day 2011 in Slovakia
  31-03-2011
  WHO Country Office Slovakia and the National Institute for Tuberculosis, Lung Diseases and Thoracic Surgery (Vyšné Hágy, High Tatras) organized a press conference for World TB Day with approximately twenty journalists from print and electronic media. 
• WHO Country Office in Tajikistan celebrated World Tuberculosis (TB) Day: “Together we can combat this disease and say NO”
  30-03-2011
  In celebration of World Tuberculosis (TB) Day 2011 “On the move against tuberculosis”, the WHO Country Office, with the Ministry of Health, the Republican Tuberculosis Center, the United Nations Development Programme and the Global Fund Programme organized a series of events devoted to a tuberculosis (TB) awareness campaign for 2011.
• World TB Day 2011 in Uzbekistan
  27-03-2011
  This year, World TB Day activities in Uzbekistan aimed to raise awareness of TB among the general population since the TB burden in Karakalpakstan is almost two times more than the rest of Uzbekistan.
• New WHO report: Towards universal access to diagnosis and treatment of MDR and XDR-TB by 2015
  25-03-2011
  This new WHO report underlines the need for countries to implement all necessary measures to address MDR-TB, otherwise the universal access target, set by the World Health Assembly in 2009, will not be achieved by 2015, with the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives.
• New report: Tuberculosis surveillance in Europe 2009
  25-03-2011
  This is a joint WHO/Europe and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) surveillance report on tuberculosis in the WHO European Region.
• Drug-resistant tuberculosis continues to spread: new report
  18-03-2011
  A new report, Tuberculosis surveillance in Europe 2009, a joint publication from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and WHO/Europe to mark World TB Day 2011, provides evidence for concern about the spread of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) and the persistence of TB among children.
• International meeting on eliminating childhood tuberculosis
  11-03-2011
  A two-day international meeting in Stockholm, Sweden 17-18 March 2011, will focus on the challenges in the elimination of childhood tuberculosis. The meeting aims to move the agenda forward in order to achieve a concerted advocacy approach.
• New report available: Tuberculosis control in Greenland
  07-03-2011
  There is a new report now available entitled, "Tuberculosis control in Greenland". In view of an observed tuberculosis incidence exceeding 100 cases per 100 000 population, the Minister of Health of Greenland asked the WHO Regional Office for Europe to organize a country visit jointly with the State Serum Institute of Denmark and the Danish Lung Association. The visit took place in the south of the country from 30 April to 6 May 2010.  
• 13th KNCV/WHO Regional Training on Tuberculosis Control Programme Management: applications welcome
  21-02-2011
  The KNCV/WHO Regional Training on Tuberculosis Control Programme Management aims at improving management skills and providing trainees with ample opportunities to reflect on and plan for the challenges they are facing. Applications are welcome until 15 June 2011.
• Assessment of TB and HIV control programmes in Belarus
  27-01-2011
  A WHO mission to assess the collaboration between TB and HIV programmes will be carried out 8-11 February 2011 in Minsk.
• Workshop for 18 high-priority countries of the WHO European Region on recording and reporting of drug resistant tuberculosis
  14-12-2010
  Istanbul, Turkey, 14 - 16 December 2009
• Ground-breaking new test for rapid diagnosis of tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis
  14-12-2010
  WHO endorses a new test technology named Xpert MTB/RIF that detects both tuberculosis and rifampicin drug resistance in an automated, closed, real-time molecular assay that is robust, easy and safe.
• Wolfheze 20 Year Jubilee – 2010 report now available
  09-11-2010
• TB research: active tuberculosis case finding in the Newly Independent States
  26-10-2010
  The estimated incidence of tuberculosis, globally as well as in the WHO European Region, is declining at a much slower pace than what was anticipated under the Global Plan to Stop TB. The importance of early case detection has been increasingly acknowledged, while the need to detect all forms of TB early has also been emphasized, both from a disease control perspective and from a right-to-care perspective.
• Global Plan to Stop TB 2011–2015 launched
  14-10-2010
  The Stop TB Partnership released the Plan on 13 October 2010. At the launch, during the World Health Summit in Berlin, Germany, Ms Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe, called on governments and partners to provide funding to carry out the Plan.
• Annual TB surveillance meeting 2010
  03-06-2010
  Joint meeting to be held in Copenhagen 15-16 June 2010
• TB/HIV workgroup meeting focused on Europe and Central Asia
  05-05-2010
  To be held in conjunction with the International AIDS Conference 2010 in Vienna, Austria, from 16 to 17 July 2010
• Drug-resistant tuberculosis now at record levels
  24-03-2010
  Multidrug and extensively drug-resistant TB – 2010 Global Report now available
• Tuberculosis in Europe 2008 - Surveillance report
  18-03-2010
  For 2008, 461 645 TB cases (52.2 per 100 000 population) were reported in the WHO European Region, representing approximately 6% of TB cases reported worldwide to WHO.
• Technical Advisory Group for Tuberculosis Control (TAG-TB)
  24-02-2010
  27-28 January 2010 - TAG's sixth meeting to advise WHO/Europe
• TB Impact Measurement: Policy and recommendations for how to assess the epidemiological burden of TB and the impact of TB control
  23-02-2010
  New publication
• Sixteenth TB/HIV Core Group meeting
  07-02-2010
  The TB/HIV working group aims to coordinate, monitor, advise, collect and share information around the global response to the HIV associated TB epidemic and will hold its 16th meeting in Almaty, Kazakhstan, from 26 to 28 May 2010
• Pathways to better diagnostics for tuberculosis
  04-12-2009
  On December 3, 2009, at the Union Conference at Cancun, Mexico, the Stop TB Partnership's New Diagnostics Working Group released a new publication.
• Global TB Report, updated with 2008 data
  15-11-2009
  The report includes the latest (2008) estimates of the global burden of TB (incidence, prevalence and mortality). It also includes an assessment of progress in implementing the Stop TB Strategy and the Global Plan to Stop TB, which in combination have set out what needs to be done to achieve the 2015 global targets for TB control.
• International conference on Prison Health Protection - what works in the prevention and control of major communicable diseases
  31-10-2009
  Prisoners who are healthy on entry have a considerable risk of leaving prison with HIV, TB or a drug problem. The conference in Madrid 29-31 October 2009 addressed the protection of prisoners health.
• Steering group meeting for regional adaptation of WHO training modules for the management of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis
  17-09-2009
  On 11 September 2009 a group of WHO staff and partners met in order to discuss and decide on the possibilities of adapting generic training modules.
• Now available - Russian translation of handbook Implementing the WHO TB Strategy
  06-05-2009
• WHO project receives World Bank award
  04-02-2009
  In February 2009, the World Bank recognized WHO/Europe’s work to improve the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB), including the use of microscopes in laboratories and drug-sensitivity testing. The award acknowledged WHO’s “leadership, technical excellence and partnership” in preparing and implementing a project for TB/AIDS control in the Russian Federation.