South-East Asia Regional Technical Advisory Group on tuberculosis (R-TAG-TB)

Overview

WHO South-East (SE) Asia Region is home to one-fourth of the global population with a disproportionately high burden of TB, accounting for more than 45% of global new TB cases in 2023 and half the number of deaths. The Region has made significant progress towards ending TB after the setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Member States frequently request the WHO country and regional offices to provide technical assistance in different areas of the TB programmes. In order to fulfill the demand in a timely manner, a readily available roster of consultants is necessary. The role of consultants in providing WHO-managed technical assistance is important, given the constraints faced in expanding HR capacity within WHO. In addition to the technical support, consultants have also been engaged in programme reviews, development of national strategic plans, and funding proposals in the Region. There is a need for standard, uniform guidance to be provided by the consultants when developing and updating national documents.

A roster of consultants to provide technical support was established by the SE Asia Regional Office recently after an open call for interest. To enrich the knowledge of the selected consultants on the updated WHO guidelines on various elements of the TB programme, this workshop was arranged.

The hybrid-mode workshop was held from 22-24 October 2024 at the National Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases (NITRD) in New Delhi. The objective of the workshop was to ensure that consultants are well equipped with knowledge of updated guidelines to support national TB programmes effectively.

To build capacity of consultants on various thematic areas like development of guidelines, conducting epidemiological reviews, joint monitoring missions, updating of national strategic plans, and funding proposal development for potential donors like the Global Fund, this workshop was arranged.