8-10 July, Accra, Ghana

Dear Friends, we are very happy to announce our regional meeting in the Africa region. The meeting will be conducted in partnership with Stop TB Partnership and our regional partners Afro Global Alliance and Stop TB Partnership- Kenya. The meeting is set to take place in Accra, Ghana, from the the 8th to the 10th of July, and will be focused on building the capacity of TB advocates and enabling them to mobilise.

We look forward to some very impactful outcomes for the region!

Tuberculosis (TB) today remains a global emergency affecting 10.4 million people globally. The fatality rate according to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2015 varied from under 5% in some countries to more than 20% in most countries in the African region. Furthermore the proportion of people with TB also living with HIV was highest in the region (31%), and exceeded 50% in parts of southern Africa. In actuality the magnitude of the TB problem in Africa remains undefined due to poor laboratory and diagnostics infrastructures, case detection, recording and reporting systems, as well as weak community engagement. The crisis demands a more comprehensive response from both government and non-government actors including civil society and most of all, those directly affected by TB – people with TB, survivors and their families. However, responses to TB remain medicalized and top- down while TB survivors, people with TB and their families have little or no role to play in the fight against TB. Their potential role as powerful advocates with the capacity to increase visibility for TB, improve public understanding of the disease and destigmatize the TB experience is largely ignored.

As a source of inspiration for the TB community the Stop TB Partnership’s Global Plan to End TB toasts the activism of the HIV community and urges TB communities and civil society to be equally loud, to demand more and to engage more meaningfully. To support TB advocates the Stop TB Partnership and the Global Coalition of TB Activists, in collaboration with Afro Global Alliance and Stop TB Partnership Kenya will host an Anglophone African Workshop for TB Advocates, 8-10 July 2017 in Accra Ghana. The objectives of this workshop are to:

• To engage, empower and mobilize a pool of TB Advocates from the Anglophone African region in TB advocacy.
• To build the capacity of TB Advocates from the Anglophone African region to engage individually and collectively in TB advocacy.
• To identify advocacy priorities for TB Advocates from the Anglophone African region to pursue nationally, regionally and globally.