Building on the successes of the West and Central African Regional Network for TB control (known as WARN/CARN-TB), TDR has recently supported the creation of a similar network among national TB programmes in Southern and East Africa that aims to build operational and implementation research capacity for improving TB programmes.
The first meeting of this new network, known as the Southern and East African Regional Network for TB Control (SEARN-TB) was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, last month. The meeting was attended by representatives from 17 of the 24 national TB programmes (NTPs) in the region as well as colleagues from WHO regional offices for Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean, partners such as The Union and Damien Foundation, and representatives of the Executive Secretariat of WARN/CARN- TB. Dr Nonhlanhla Dlamini, the WHO Country Representative for Ethiopia, and Dr Abera Bekele, Senior Advisor to State Minister of Health for Ethiopia, welcomed participants during the opening ceremony.
Participants of the first meeting of SEARN-TB in May 2023
Credit: Yonas Abebe, Armaeur Hansen Research Institute
The meeting provided an opportunity to officially launch the network and set the foundations. Over the course of the two-day meeting, network members established the Terms of Reference for SEARN-TB, identified key priority areas and activities that could be addressed through the network and defined responsibilities and requirements of members. Members endorsed the Armaeur Hansen Research Institute (AHRI) as the secretariat of SEARN-TB. TDR has a long history of engagement with AHRI, whose experience working with other NTPs in the region made them well placed to lead this new network. On the final day of the meeting, members also elected the NTPs of Ethiopia and Malawi to serve as the first co-chairs of SEARN-TB for a one-year term.
Similar to WARN/CARN-TB, which TDR has supported since its inception in 2015, this new network will aim to enhance collaboration between NTPs and the harmonization of TB care and control strategies. There will be a specific focus on building capacity for implementation and operational research and the use of research findings to improve TB programming throughout the region.
Preparations are now underway to organize the first regional workshop of SEARN-TB in June 2023 which will be jointly hosted by The Global TB Programme at WHO and the Robert Koch Institute with financial support from the German Federal Ministry of Health. This workshop will bring together the monitoring and evaluation focal points from the 24 countries to provide training and capacity building on understanding TB surveillance data and identifying priorities for implementation research.
Left to right: Dr Alemseged Abdissa, Deputy Director General, AHRI, and Executive Secretary, SEARN-TB; Mr James Mpunga, SEARN-TB co-chair and NTP Coordinator, Malawi; Prof Dissou Affolabi, Executive Secretary, WARN/CARN-TB; and Mr Fasil Tsegaye Kassa, SEARN-TB co-chair and representative of NTP Ethiopia
Credit: TDR / V. Veronese
For more information, please contact Dr Corinne Merle.