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. It 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 HIV/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.
"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.
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).
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