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Regional Meeting of Heads of National Tuberculosis Programs (PNTs)

(Mexico City, 7–9 September 2004)

- Final Report (in Spanish, 42 pp, PDF, 1866 Kb)
- Agenda
(3 pp, PDF, 189 KB)

Contact: Mirtha del Granado, Regional TB Advisor, PAHO/WHO Regional Program on TB.

Related WHO Sites
- TB Advocacy Report 2003: The Human Face of TB
- Tuberculosis: Strategies, Operations, Monitoring & Evaluation
- TB Literature by Subject
- WHO Tuberculosis Page

Regional TB Meeting 2004
PAHO Tuberculosis Page

The Regional Program on Tuberculosis of the Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), with support from the PAHO Country Office in Mexico, the Secretary of Health of Mexico and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) held a meeting of the Heads of the National Tuberculosis Programs of its Member States from 7–9 September 2004 in Mexico City.

Introduction: Every two years there is regional meeting of the Heads of TB Control Programs of the Latin American and Caribbean countries, with the objective of evaluating progress made in tuberculosis control and compliance with commitments made, primarily with reference to applying the DOTS Strategy. Previous meetings have taken place in Mexico in 2000 and in Cuba in 2002. This meeting is different in that it includes the countries of the English-speaking Caribbean, initially with the participation of Guyana and the TB Program Coordinator from CAREC, in addition to involving heads of TB laboratories.

Objectives

• Become acquainted with the epidemiological and operational situation of TB of each country.
• Evaluate progress made in applying the DOTS Strategy and in meeting the 2005 goals.
• Become acquainted with the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, as well as the action plan and the extent of DOTS application in those countries that will not achieve total coverage by 2005.
• Evaluate compliance with agreements and recommendations made in Cuba in 2002.
• Review and discuss the Regional Action Plan.

Expected Results

• Knowledge of the epidemiological and operational situation of TB in each country.
• Knowledge of the extent of DOTS coverage in each one of the countries.
• Knowledge of the Plan of Action and/or extent of DOTS coverage in accordance with the SWOT analysis from each country.
• Achievement of a consensus-based Regional Plan, agreed upon by all countries, to consolidate and extend DOTS coverage.
• Knowledge by each of the countries of the different initiatives to strengthen the DOTS Strategy.

Methodology: The meeting is primarily based on interactive country presentations on the SWOT analysis, poster presentations, conferences, and group work, ending with a visit to the community initiative "White Flag" ("Bandera blanca").

Participants: Heads of TB Programs and Heads of TB Laboratory Networks.