Western Pacific regional framework to end TB: 2021-2030: brief summary

Overview

The Western Pacific Regional Framework to End TB (2021–2030) was developed at the request of and in consultation with the Member States in the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region. It is aligned with the global End TB Strategy and with For the Future: Towards the Healthiest and Safest Region – a vision for WHO work with Member States and partners in the Western Pacific in the coming years. This new Regional Framework focuses on system development. People and communities – not diseases – are at the centre of the health system in the Framework, with universal health coverage (UHC) and multisectoral partnerships as key elements in facilitating the reduction of the burden and suffering caused by tuberculosis (TB) in the Region. The Framework can be adapted by Member States in formulating their national TB plans, based on their local experiences.

The aim of the 2030 Framework is to provide the basis (reasoning) and concepts for multisectoral actions that countries can adapt to their context and implement with all stakeholders to achieve the targets of the End TB Strategy by 2030.

The target audience for the Regional Framework is all those with an interest in the promotion of TB prevention, control and care, including: ministries or departments of health (TB and non-TB); industry; the commerce, education and environment sectors; social sciences; health-care workers in the public and private sectors; civil society; and TB-affected communities. This Framework is applicable for all countries of the Western Pacific Region; however, priorities may differ in different countries based on their specific TB situation.

The objectives of the Framework are:

• to further accelerate progress on TB in the Western Pacific Region and to be an essential tool for national TB programmes and technical partners to develop their national strategic plans or national health plans;
• to strengthen health systems and UHC and leverage them for: a) ending TB in the context of a changing demographic, epidemiological and financial landscape; and b) introducing the future innovations in TB and health systems; and
• to be a thought-provoking advocacy document and tool for collaboration and partnership, targeting policymakers of various levels and of various sectors, and to ensure that programme managers, policy-makers and decision-makers understand the complexities around the disease and support TB control through a wide, multisectoral set of interventions and policies.