Health Ministers and experts from Member States of WHO South-East Asia Region began a week-long meeting in New Delhi this week to deliberate on priority public health issues and build on the recent momentum for elimination of communicable diseases. On 4 September, the Seventy-second meeting of the South-East Asia Regional Committee unanimously adopted the South-East Asia Regional Action Plan on the Programmatic Management of Latent Tuberculosis Infection. This plan developed through broad consultative process with country stakeholders, civil society and community partners and technical experts, aligns completely with the latest WHO guidelines on programmatic management of latent TB infection and aims to assist Member States in updating national policies, and prepare the health and community systems to launch adequate national response for provision of TB preventive treatment to all target populations.
As stated by Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Regional Office in her Foreword to the Action Plan, “Global- and regional-level scientific evidences clearly indicate that the required rate of decline in TB incidence can be achieved only if the treatment of active TB disease is combined with the treatment of TB infection (preventive treatment). Preventive treatment needs to be established as a standard of care”
“We welcome the adoption of the WHO South-East Asia Regional Action Plan for Programmatic Management of Latent Tuberculosis Infection in the region, which when implemented will be a big step up in achievement of globally committed targets to provide TB preventive treatment to 30 million individuals by 2022 and contribute to ending TB in the Region. We hope this momentum continues and builds further in the high TB burden countries in the region” said Dr Ren Minghui, WHO Assistant Director-General, Universal Health Coverage/Communicable and Noncommunicable Diseases.
This Regional Committee decision follows the strong political commitment to End TB demonstrated by Member States through the Delhi Call for Action in 2017 and the Statement of Action for Ending TB by 2030, adopted at the Delhi End TB Summit in March 2018. Through adoption of the regional plan Member States have reaffirmed commitments to achieve concrete targets and mobilize commensurate resources amounting to nearly US$150 million per year for implementing new drugs and regimen.
At the first ever UN High Level Meeting on Tuberculosis in September 2018 in New York, countries resolved to providing TB preventive treatment to at least 30 million people globally by the year 2022, which includes 6 million people living with HIV; four million children <5 years of age who are household contacts of TB patients and 20 million other household contacts. The WHO South-East Asia Region, which bears more than 35% of the global TB burden of latent TB infection, needs to reach more than 10.5 million eligible individuals with TB preventive treatment by 2022. Modelling work supported by WHO SEARO in 2019 clearly demonstrated that TB preventive treatment is a cost-effective intervention. It is anticipated that complete coverage as per recent WHO guidelines within next 3 years and maintaining it will prevent more than 1.3 million new TB cases in the Region and avert more than 2.3 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) by 2025.