New Asia-Pacific coalition of TB activists launched.
The first ever Asia-Pacific network of Tuberculosis (TB) activists was established this November in Bangkok, Thailand, following a regional meeting of individuals and civil society groups involved in country responses to the TB epidemic. Called ACT Asia-Pacific!, the coalition is an important milestone in a region that has 10 of the world’s high burden countries for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and accounts for over 850,000 TB-related deaths every year.
The formation of the network is a result of a TB advocacy meeting co-organised by APCASO and the Global Coalition of TB Activists (GCTA) on November 8-10, 2016 in Bangkok. The meeting gathered TB and drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) survivors, Stop TB Partnership Challenge Facility grantees, TB Reach grantees, Global Fund TB primary and sub-recipients, members of the World Health Organization (WHO) TB Civil Society Task Force, and representatives of regional and national HIV networks to develop a regional TB advocacy plan that aims to push governments and stakeholders to give the TB epidemic the political attention that it deserves.
The November 8-10 meeting was supported by the Global Fund’s External Relations Division and CRG Special Initiative, GCTA, Open Society Foundations, and APCASO.
More information about ACT Asia-Pacific!, including 'Commitments to Action', leadership and coordination, founding members, how to get involved and support is available here and here.
Source: APCASO