Two members of the civil society from Ukraine – Yuliya Chorna, TB Advocacy Manager of ICF “Alliance for Public Health”, and Olha Klymenko, a public activist, a member of the Steering Committee of the Stop TB Partnership Ukraine, joined the Board of the TB Europe Coalition (hereinafter – the TBEC). In general, upon the first Board elections in the TBEC history, 13 nominees were elected. 72 TBEC members (40% of the total number of the TBEC participants) voted in favor of the elected candidates through online voting from April 17 to April 25.
The TBEC was founded in 2009 and over the years has become a dynamic network of activists and civil society organizations consolidating their efforts to overcome the TB epidemic in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region. Among the most important partnerships of the TBEC are TBPeople, the first network of TB survivors in the EECA, and the Global TB Caucus, an international movement uniting more than 2,000 parliamentarians from 130 countries in the fight against TB.
The strategic objectives of the TBEC are to ensure a strong and responsible network of TB activists through providing specific knowledge and support in developing skills for the activists’ influence on the policy-making processes for the efficient TB response. For many years, the Alliance, acting as the TBEC Secretariat, has been vigorously supporting this essential international initiative. In particular, the TBEC partnership with the regional project TB-REP is important, as this is the first regional TB project supported by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria with a component of civil society engagement.
A wide range of partners is involved in the implementation of the TB-REP project under the technical ownership of the WHO Europe Office (PAS Center, Moldova, is the principal recipient of the grant), while the civil society organizations (CSOs) in the project countries play an important role in the project. In cooperation with public authorities, TB-REP partners from civil society are dedicated to advocate for the transition to patient-centered TB care, in particular, in outpatient settings. The TBEC, together with the Alliance, is responsible for supporting the activities of civil society organizations within the TB-REP project. The main task of cooperation is to ensure that public opinion and the experience of people who have or survived TB are taken into account when designing people-oriented TB care models.

The Alliance congratulates new members of the TBEC Board and wishes them successful work to overcome TB as soon as possible!