Africa: Global Meeting On Strengthening Public-Private Provider Engagement Calls for Greater Collaboration With All Care Providers to Get the TB Response Back-On-Track and to Enhance Accountability

9 November 2022
World Health Organization (Geneva)
press release

Over 120 participants from countries, partners and civil society came together for the first time in-person since the pandemic, at the Global Meeting of the Working Group on Public-Private Mix (PPM) for TB prevention and care.

The meeting, held on 2-4 November in Nairobi, Kenya was convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Stop TB Partnership with support from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Global Fund. The meeting was opened by Dr Tereza Kasaeva, Director of WHO's Global TB Programme and Dr Madhukar Pai, Chair of the Stop TB PPM Working Group and Associate Director of the McGill International TB Centre. TB survivor and advocate - Caroline Mburu - shared her personal journey combating TB, and called for the engagement of all care providers to ensure access to quality care wherever a person chooses to access it, in the public or private sector.

"The Global PPM Working Group Meeting is an important platform to share experiences and innovations, especially now as we are working hard to build back stronger after the pandemic," said Dr Tereza Kasaeva, Director of WHO's Global TB Programme. "The Global PPM Working Group Meeting, put the spotlight on the core issues around strengthening PPM monitoring to enhance accountability, integrating PPM into the broader universal health coverage agenda, enabling meaningful engagement of civil society in PPM efforts, and increasing advocacy for PPM prioritization in the lead up to the 2023 UN High Level Meeting on TB."

Dr Madhukar Pai, Chair of the Stop TB PPM Working Group added, "Because TB incidence and mortality has increased during the pandemic, we need to work much harder to get back on track. Private provider engagement is a smart and cost-effective strategy for finding the people who have been missed, and ensuring they get quality TB services, wherever they seek care. The private sector in many countries has shown resiliency during the pandemic, and has the capacity to contribute a lot, if engaged at scale. The PPM Working Group Meeting in Nairobi revealed a plethora of PPM models that are being tried out, and it was wonderful to see the innovative approaches being used in high burden countries."

Key speakers and participants at the meeting:

  • Reviewed global, regional and national progress in prioritizing PPM to close gaps in access to prevention and care services including through the roll-out of the PPM roadmap.
  • Shared best practices and innovations in private sector TB service delivery in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Discussed ongoing efforts to strengthen PPM monitoring and accountability, as part of the roll out of the WHO's multisectoral accountability framework on TB (MAF-TB).
  • Reviewed WHO's initiative on strengthening TB PPM monitoring and evaluation in 7 PPM priority countries through enhanced data dashboards.
  • Charted the way forward and identified key priorities for the PPM Working Group for the coming year, including preparations for the 2023 UN High Level Meeting on TB.

The first day featured interventions from a TB survivor, WHO and key partners including USAID, The Global Fund and the Stop TB Partnership in the opening session. Progress in advancing public-private sector engagement and accountability in the lead up to the 2023 UN High Level Meeting on TB was presented. This was followed by a country roundtable focused on TB PPM data dashboards. A spotlight was placed on mobilizing the private sector response to end TB on the road to Universal Health Coverage (UHC). At the close of day, a special civil society session, with a TB survivor and advocate roundtable, resulting in the drafting of a Call to Action to strengthen civil society engagement in PPM efforts.

The second day began with field visits to PPM sites in Nairobi, to learn from realities on the ground. This was followed by an in-depth panel on PPM strategy and implementation in Kenya, the host country of the meeting. A key session on harnessing innovations and new tools to get back on track for PPM implementation after the pandemic was held, where innovative approaches and diagnostics to engage and strengthen private sector were discussed. The day closed with a special session on the TB PPM learning Network.

The third day was dedicated to preparations for the 2023 UN High Level Meeting on TB and key opportunities for PPM. An interactive marketplace showcasing national PPM Roadmap progress from over 12 countries was held in an innovative format.

At the close of the meeting, representatives from national TB programmes, partners and civil society commended the work of the PPM Working Group and WHO, and pledged to work with WHO and partners in ramping up PPM efforts in countries.

WHO CONSULTATION ON ENHANCED TB-PPM DASHBOARDS WITH SEVEN PPM PRIORITY COUNTRIES

NAIROBI, KENYA, 1 NOVEMBER 2022

WHO held a special consultation in advance of the Global PPM Working Group Meeting. The aim on the consultation was to reach consensus on core common indicators and next steps for development and deployment of data dashboards on PPM. This is part of efforts led by WHO to strengthen PPM monitoring with the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, through the development of enhanced PPM data dashboards in high PPM priority countries. These dashboards will help ensure PPM prioritization, action and accountability. They will play an important role in strengthening national TB strategic plans and for funding proposal applications. These dashboards will also be integrated into national M&E systems making them sustainable and are a part of promoting a people-centered approach to care.

Please join us on WHO's End TB Forum to access more information on PPM, learn from country experiences, share ideas, liaise and network with other PPM experts, participate in WHO meetings, and be up-to-date on the latest PPM developments and innovations.

PPM Working Group End TB wave

About the PPM Working Group on TB prevention and care

Under the umbrella of the Global Working Group on Public-Private Mix (PPM) for TB Care and Prevention of the Stop TB Partnership - that is hosted by the WHO Global TB Programme, countries have been provided support to enhance collaboration between national TB programmes and diverse public, voluntary, corporate and private health care providers for TB care in different settings. The PPM Working Group members include national TB programme managers, policy makers, civil society and affected communities, representatives from the private sector, academia, field experts, international technical partners and development agencies.

Read the original article on WHO.

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