Global XDR-TB Task Force releases progress report listing achievements to date

WHO has issued the first update on achievements by the Global Task Force on XDR-TB. The 20-page report outlines actions to date on the eight agreed recommendations issued by the task force. More than 80 activities carried out by WHO and its partners are listed in detail. The task force met in October 2006 to outline a series of measures that countries must put in place to effectively combat the emergence of XDR-TB - a recently identified drug-resistant form of TB. More than 120 participants, including TB officers from the most affected countries and senior experts in the fields of MDR-TB, HIV, infection control and communication, attended the meeting at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.