ACSM at Country Level

1. ACSM at Country Level Action Points 6 November 2007 Cape Town, South Africa

2. Discussion Outcome – Session One A small working group discussed examples and the importance of measuring ACSM activities. Advocacy: Targeting key decisionmakers with measurable outcomes. Not just awareness raising. Communication: Addressing known barriers through measurable, strategic activity targeting a specific audience that results in behavior change for better TB control. Social Mobilization: Engagement of a large number of people, to include the patient affected community and local leaders, to mobilize social change and awareness for better TB control.

3. Action Points – Session One Best Practices Secretariat will support collection and dissemination of best practices. The Sub Group will provide input into the template and will submit data. Best practices should be evidence-based. The Sub Group endorsed the concept of an ACSM Symposium, showcasing best practices and results at country level, to be organized by the Secretariat scheduled as part of the 2008 Union conference.

4. Action Points – Session Two The Sub Group acknowledged the need for consistent and quality TA to build local capacity. Continue ACSM Planning Workshops and, over the course of the next two years, cover all WHO regions. Coordinate with TAG and others who may be scheduling workshops. Ensure active follow-up to the workshops and integration of key challenges like human capacity. TA missions should be prioritized to: high burden countries, countries with GF resources for ACSM and countries that need assistance with proposal preparation. TA should be included in Global Fund proposals. Patient affected community needs and involvement should be addressed.

5. Action Points – Session Two, Cont. The Secretariat will coordinate a targeted assessment of what is happening with ACSM activities and patient affected /civil society involvement at country level to guide technical assistance (implementation and proposal preparation) as well as to link networks for sharing best practices. The Secretariat will propose a way to better support civil society in their development of Global Fund grants. The Secretariat will create a repository of ACSM activities by country and post it online for everyone's use.

6. Action Points – Session Three ACSM Tools for Implementers Secretariat will review current translation versions of the Patients’ Charter and will support additional languages. Secretariat will further coordinate “companion pieces” to the ACSM Handbook. The next pieces will be: (1) a collection of lessons learned around implementation of the Patients’ Charter and (2) around M&E issues. A small group will “pick up” the M&E Compendium and work with TBTEAM to create this companion piece.

7. Action Points – Other Topics Drug Resistance Task Force The Sub Group created a time-limited task force to identify products and opportunities for further action (case studies, advocacy points) specific to country level. National Partnerships The Sub Group will actively support national partnerships through facilitation of knowledge transfer, strengthening communications and by organizing south-to-south exchanges.

8. Action Points – Other Topics DOTS Expansion Working Group The Sub Group urged stronger links with the DOTS Expansion Working Group. It was suggested that an ACSM expert sit on the DOTS Expansion core group and liaise back to the ACSM at Country Level Sub Group. Further, ACSM should be mainstreamed into all TB control tools. The Sub Group urged WHO headquarter and Partnership staff to work closer together.

9. Action Points – Session Five Putting it all together… other points Strengthen Communication! Core Group NFR should be posted online E-Forum should be better utilized to facilitate feedback Secretariat should conduct an evaluation of who are the working group members and produce a list Secretariat should keep a link to this meeting active on the website with presentations and other follow-up A 6-month evaluation of action points should be conducted Partners should link to the ACSM website and provide tools to be shared

10. Finally- Governance Issues The Secretariat will propose a process to elect a Chair of the Sub Group. The process will be posted in November for comment and elections will be held in January. Additionally, the Secretariat will evaluate current core group member terms of office and include election of additional members in January at the same time as the Chair. The Sub Group discussed and agreed that the group should link strongly, but remain independent, to the global group. Additionally, the Sub Group should remain as part of the ACSM working group but strengthen ties to the DOTS Expansion and other working groups.