The Union joins the WHO’s TBTEAM network to strengthen country capacity in the fight against TB
The International Management Development Programme (IMDP) of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) ) has joined hands with the World Health Organization (WHO) TBTEAM network to support health systems strengthening by delivering accredited health management training courses. TBTEAM, the Tuberculosis Technical Assistance Mechanism, whose secretariat is hosted in the WHO Global TB Programme, is a global coalition of partners, countries and funding agencies, which aims to build up the national capacity of countries and focuses on assisting national TB programmes and other stakeholders in improving implementation of grants from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (The Global Fund).
TBTEAM works with countries in developing and updating their
national strategic plans to prepare eligible countries for The
Global Fund’s new funding model. TBTEAM supports existing
Global Fund grants by linking key partners to countries for
proposal preparation, grant negotiation, implementation of
grants and consolidation of plans across multiple grants, as
well as addressing grant bottlenecks and ongoing grant
monitoring. In addition, it helps countries’ national and
international technical partners coordinate their efforts
through the development of technical assistance plans.
The Union’s IMDP will support efforts by the WHO Global TB
Programme and TBTEAM by training health professionals in
specific management competencies that are critical to the
success of national and international health programmes,
including leadership, project management, strategic planning,
budgeting and financial management, monitoring and evaluation,
communication and networking.
The upcoming course, “Supply Chain Management –
Focus on TB” (October 2013), offered in partnership with
the WHO Western Pacific Region (WPRO), demonstrates the
importance of collaboration in delivering management education
to our TB community and partners worldwide.
“The IMDP focus is on capacity building and heath systems
strengthening via training public health officers to assume the
critically important responsibilities of programme management
and leadership”, said Tom Stuebner, Director, The
Union’s International Management Training Programme.
In addition to core management trainings, IMDP faculty work with
public health organisations to prepare customised training
plans. The IMDP has trained over 4,000 health professionals from
national TB control and tobacco control programmes, other public
health sectors, NGOs and INGOs, The Global Fund and the United
Nations Development Programme. IMDP’s courses are
accredited by the International Association for Continuing
Education and Training (IACET) and the European Board for
Accreditation in Pneumology (EBAP).
“We are very pleased to collaborate with the IMDP through
our TBTEAM mechanism”, said Dr Mario Raviglione, Director,
WHO Global TB Programme. “As strong, engaged
partners, we can streamline efforts to strengthen capacity in
countries to fight TB”. The WHO Global TB Programme
together with WHO regional and country offices develops
policies, strategies and standards; supports the efforts of WHO
Member States; measures progress towards TB targets and assesses
national programme performance, financing and impact; promotes
research; and facilitates partnerships, advocacy and
communication.
Source:
Citizen News Service
