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Global Drug-Resistant TB Initiative (GDI) holds first Core Group meeting

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The first meeting of the Core Group (CG) of the Global Drug-resistant TB Initiative (GDI) took place in Geneva on 1-2 May 2014.  Dr Chen-Yuan Chiang represents The Union and Dr Raimond Armengol, also from The Union, represents the Latin America regional Green Light Committee for this important initiative.

The goal of the Core Group will be to identify the strategic priorities of the GDI and decide on project activities that it should undertake. A taskforce engaging Global Laboratory Initiative (GLI), regional Green Light Committees (rGLC), countries and partners will be organised for each project activity in keeping with the partner approach.

The strategic priorities and activities agreed by the Core Group members at this meeting were:

  1. Develop targeted advocacy strategies and resource mobilisation for DR-TB management scale-up;
  2. Facilitate integration and coordination of efforts to align diagnostic services for patients with access to high-quality care;
  3. Build global consensus on the management of DR-TB for patient-centred care delivery ("care for cure");
  4. Promote strategies to facilitate patient access to high-quality DR-TB care through a long-term, in-country capacity-building approach targeting both the public and private sector;
  5. Facilitate effective knowledge sharing among partners and harmonise coordination with existing technical assistance mechanisms to ensure quality support to Programmatic Management of Drug-Resistant TB (PMDT) programmes; and
  6. Support prioritisation of research to generate evidence for PMDT scale-up.

In addition to The Union, other organisations represented on this committee are Fondazione Centre San Raffaele (Italy),  KNCV TB Foundation (The Netherlands), International Council of Nurses (Switzerland), LRS Institute of TB and Respiratory Diseases (India), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (India), National Jewish Health (USA), National TB Programme (Egypt), New Jersey Medical School Global TB Institute (USA), Northern State Medical University (Russian Federation), Partners in Health (USA), TB Proof (South Africa), WHO Geneva and the Stop TB Partnership Secretariat (Switzerland) and the United States Agency for International Development (USA).