By Samar Ibrahim Advocacy and Communication Assistant Communicable Disease Control WHO EMRO

1. by Samar Ibrahim Advocacy and Communication Assistant Communicable Disease Control WHO EMRO

2. Our Regional situation from the Global Targets Regional figures so far show that we are still far from achieving the global targets. (82%-38% vs. 85%-70%). Although big progress has been made towards achieving these targets in the Region, the challenges are still tremendous. Case detection remains very low, quality of DOTS is not as high as expected and the Regional share of financial support is not sufficient to keep TB control sustainable.

3. In order for us to address these challenges and define our strategic directions to achieve the MDGs, the Regional Office has initiated the development of a regional strategic plan for 2006-2015. This regional guiding document will be a part of the recently launched Second Global Plan to Stop TB and the Global Strategy to Stop TB. A Regional Strategy to Stop TB

4. ACS in the Global and Regional Strategies ACS as supportive tools for TB control globally and in the Region have become increasingly valued and its implementation strategy has become more mature because of the major role it can play. In the past, ACS has been taking place in different shapes and forms in the various countries of the Region. Activities have been concentrated mainly around World TB Day and they usually included : Seminars, rallies, media interviews, print material and promotional items

7. ADVOCACY Activities designed to place TB high on the political and development agenda, foster political will, increase financial and other resources on a sustainable basis.  Outcome Highly committed politicians Enough resources to ensure sustainability of ACS activities

8. Situation at present: Stop TB budget EMRO vs. WRPO

9. COMMUNICATION Increase knowledge among general public about TB and TB control services, improve interpersonal communication between patients and program providers contributing to behavioral change. Outcome Improved public knowledge about TB and overcoming problems such as patient�s delay in seeking treatment, stigma and discrimination Increase number TB suspects

10. SOCIAL MOBILIZATION The mobilization of communities for action to fight stigma and eliminate TB as a public health threat. Outcome Elimination of stigma and discrimination Improve patient-provider relationship Improved TB suspect tracing, case detection and treatment adherence

11. Increased case detection in BDN area

12. Regional Priorities Establish and launch the Regional Stop TB partnership to scale up our strategic support to countries 1st inter-country training workshop on ACS for TB control in the countries of the EMR which was was held in Islamabad, Pakistan, 21-24 February 2006 to train medical, social and communication specialists from 7 countries of the Region on the effective use of health communication tools to develop successful national ACS strategies. Increasing the financial resources (GFATM and others) to ensure sustainability of TB control activities including ACS (In Round 6 of GF, 9 countries from the Region applied for funding, all of which have incorporated an ACS component in their proposals )

13. A 10-step guide to ACS planning and implementation Step 1) Secure qualified communication focal point(s) in the NTP Step 2) Create a specific ACS committee/task-force/partnership Step 3) Conduct a systematic needs assessment Step 4) Develop an ACS national strategy Step 5) Develop a workplan and budget for ACS activities Step 6) Identify ACS focal points at all levels Step 7) Develop, pre-test and produce ACS materials. Step 8) Improve human resource skills and institutional capacity Step 9) Implementation Step 10) Monitoring and Evaluation

14. i.e. What to do? PREP Step 1) �Doctors treat patients�, communication experts bring them to the door. Recruit a professional to design, implement and evaluate ACS interventions Step 2) You need to know who is in charge of planning, implementing and evaluating all ACS activities at national and sub-national levels (ACS taskforce) Step 3) You need to determine what are your behavioral goals, who is your target audiences, what are the social behavioral barriers to treatment seeking or compliance and by which media (needs assessment) Step 4) Based on the results of the needs assessment and in line with the national TB control strategy, you need to develop an ACS strategy Step 5) Develop your detailed workplan and draft your budget for ACS interventions.

15. i.e. What to do? DEVELOP Step 6) Identify ACS focal points at all levels, they will be your hands and ears in the field. Step 7) In developing your ACS material: posters, flyers, TV commercials �etc, don�t assume, if you want to know, pre-test Step 8) Conduct specialized training workshops to make sure everybody is doing it right

16. i.e. What to do? IMPLEMENT, M&E Step 9) According to your workplan, begin implementation Step 10) Establish ACS impact indicators in district/provincial/national TB reporting formats to be able to review progress. Monitor and evaluate your interventions on ongoing basis and make sure to include pre and post-campaign evaluation

17. ACS �suggested� workplanBeginning 2007- End 2008

18. Thank you and Good luck