What We Do
Advocacy & Partnerships
ADVOCACY
The Union has been supporting international advocacy efforts in TB control since in 1920. The rallying message of its 31 founding nations emphasised mobilisation and political commitment to work together to stop TB.
WORLD TB DAY
In 1982, the Mali TB Association proposed the first World TB Day to coincide with the anniversary of the discovery of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis by Prof Robert Koch, on 24 March 1882. Since then, The Union has supported its constituent and organisational members as they endeavor to raise the profile of the disease in their own countries, and participates in international advocacy efforts through publicity and preparation of other advocacy materials.
PARTNERSHIPS
The Union works with a wide variety of partners in the fight against TB, including our constituent and organisational members, ministries of health, national TB programmes, national lung associations, medical societies, universities, nongovernmental organisations, patient organisations and community groups.
The following list highlights just a few of these partners:
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
The Union was the first nongovernmental organisation recognized by the World Health Organization when it was established in 1946. The two organizations have worked closely ever since on issues related to TB, as well as HIV, tobacco control, and non-communicable diseases.
STOP TB PARTNERSHIPS
The Union was a founding member of the Stop TB Initiative in 2000, which later became known as the Stop TB Partnerships. Union experts serve on many of the Stop TB Working Groups and other committees, such as the Green Light Committee. www.stoptb.org
United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
USAID and The Union have worked closely on issues from TB technical assistance to laboratory strengthening. Since 1984, The Union has been one of the few non-US-based organisations to be officially registered with USAID. Funding from USAID today supports the TREAT TB Initiative, TB CARE and other important Union activities.
Centre Hospitalier de Pneumo-phtisiologie de Cotonou (Benin)
A Union Collaborating Centre
This centre collaborates with The Union on the presentation of TB technical and management courses in French.
Damien Foundation Belgium
The Damien Foundation and The Union collaborate on operational research for MDR-TB diagnosis and treatment, laboratory strengthening, training courses and other projects.
Secretariat of the WHO TB & Poverty sub-group
The secretariat of the TB and Poverty Sub-Group of the WHO DOTS Expansion Working Group is now housed in The Union South-East Asia Office in New Delhi. It is operational and recent activities include a two-day consultative workshop on this issue attended by national TB programme representatives from India, Nepal and Thailand, state TB managers from 8 Indian states, and representatives from World Vision, the World Bank, WHO and the media.
Partnership for TB Care and Control, India (New Delhi)
The Union works closely with this consortium of organisations from civil society and other sectors working to advance TB care and control in India. The Partnership's secretariat is housed in The Union South-East Asia Office in Delhi.
University Research Corporation, LLC
Since 2010 The Union has been a collaborating partner with the University Research Corporation, LLC for a USAID-funded project based in South Africa. The Union provides courses in TB management, MDR-TB, TB/HIV collaborative services and management skills, as well as follow-up technical assistance and support to participants.
TREAT TB Initiative partners
Partners in the USAID-funded TREAT TB Initiative include:
- Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (UK)
- Desmond Tutu TB Centre (South Africa)
- National Tuberculosis Centre India)
- Rede-TB (Brazil)
- EnCompass LLC (USA)
- Institute of Tropical Medicine (Belgium)
- McGill University (Canada)
- Brigham & Women's Hospital/Harvard School of Public Health (USA)
- Medical Research Council (UK)
- WHO / WHO-EMRO
- Dignitas International (Canada)
