Regional Workshop in Almaty, Kazakhstan, 28–30 April 2025
Almaty, 30 April 2025 – In a critical step toward ending tuberculosis (TB) in the European Region, the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Programme on Tuberculosis and Lung Health, in collaboration with the WHO Regional Office for Europe (EURO), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Unitaid, and KNCV TB Plus, in close coordination with the Kazakhstan National TB Programme are organizing a high-level regional workshop in Almaty, Kazakhstan, from 28 to 30 April 2025. The workshop brought together key interest-holders from national TB programmes, laboratories, technical and implementing partners, donors, advocates, and civil society in the WHO European region to plan the accelerated adoption and scale-up of WHO’s latest TB guidelines including the operational handbook, rapid communication on TB and DR-TB diagnosis, and updated treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis.
According to the latest WHO Global TB Report (2024), there were 65,000 new cases of multidrug-resistant/rifampicin-resistant TB (MDR/RR-TB) in the WHO European Region in 2023. The updated WHO guidelines represent a turning point in the global and local TB response. They include new recommendations on TB preventive treatment for contacts of people with MDR/RR-TB, concurrent diagnostic testing for individuals at risk, targeted next-generation sequencing for drug resistance, updated nutritional support for TB-affected households, and shorter, more effective regimens for the treatment of drug-resistant TB.
“TB is both preventable and curable yet thousands of people die from it every year, ripping families and communities apart. The new WHO guidelines provide an opportunity for countries to accelerate progress towards ending TB once and for all,” said Dr Askar Yedilbayev, Regional TB Advisor at the WHO Regional Office for Europe. “WHO/Europe is scaling up efforts to support Member States to align national TB response strategies to the global guidelines. Together, we aim to strengthen the delivery of quality TB services through primary health care, community-based programmes and cross-border collaboration.”
These policy advancements aim to improve patient outcomes, reduce treatment duration, and strengthen health systems to be efficient, person-centred and address country-specific needs.
“We are at a critical moment in the global fight against TB. As funding cuts challenge health systems and threaten hard-won progress, cost-efficient and sustainable interventions are more essential than ever to help countries maintain their TB responses,” said Dr Cherise Scott, Senior TB Strategy Manager at Unitaid. “The updated WHO guidelines mark a significant step forward, highlighting major advances in TB prevention, diagnosis, and treatment—and offering a real opportunity to deliver more sustainable solutions. Unitaid plays an important role in accelerating access to affordable, quality-assured tools by investing in innovation and shaping markets. But without sustained commitment and coordinated action, these advances are at risk”.
The joint workshop in Almaty is designed to equip country teams with the technical capacity and strategic tools to implement these guidelines effectively. Participants will have the opportunity to share experiences from early adopter countries, engage in technical sessions and develop customized action plans to address guideline update, operational integration, and resource mobilization. Such an event also allows for the identification of practical efficiencies and context-appropriate strategies for implementing policies, ensuring that resources are used effectively applying a person-centred approach.
“We have been working together with national TB programmes of the countries in this region over the years introducing new treatment regimens and person-centered care models to improve adherence of patients with TB and success rates in TB treatment,” said Dr Bern-Thomas Nyangwa MSF Medical Director. “This event provides a platform to discuss the countries’ experiences, share good practices and achievements, and to brainstorm together on how to overcome constraints and inform realistic adoption and rollout of the new regimens.”
“This workshop is an opportunity to build regional consensus on how to implement the WHO’s 2024 guidelines swiftly and effectively,” said Mansa Mbenga, Unitaid-funded ASCENT DR-TB Project Technical Lead and KNCV expert. “We are bringing together leading voices, national and international experts, civil society and community representatives, and practitioners in the fight against TB to align priorities, exchange knowledge, and reinforce collaboration.”
The event is supported by MSF and Unitaid and hosted in close coordination with the Kazakhstan National TB Programme and representatives of the WHO EURO region. The organizers express deep appreciation to all national TB programs in the region, TB advocates, civil society organizations and partner organizations whose commitment continues to steer progress in the TB prevention and care cascade.
Contact for media inquiries:
Contact Name: Aizhan Rymbayeva, Communication Officer of WHO Country Office in Kazakhstan
Email: rymbayevaa@who.int
About WHO: WHO is the United Nations agency that connects nations, partners and people to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. WHO is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends. The WHO Regional Office covers 53 countries in Europe and Central Asia.
About Unitaid: Unitaid is a global health organization that saves lives by making new health products available and affordable for people in low- and middle-income countries. Unitaid works with partners to identify innovative treatments, tests and tools, help tackle the market barriers that are holding them back and get them to the people who need them most – fast. Since Unitaid was created in 2006, the organization has unlocked access to more than 100 groundbreaking health products to help address the world’s biggest health challenges, including HIV, TB and malaria; women’s and children’s health; and pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. Every year, more than 300 million people benefit from the products Unitaid has helped roll out. Unitaid is hosted by the World Health Organization.
About MSF: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is the largest non-governmental provider of TB treatment worldwide and has been involved in TB care for more than 30 years, often working alongside national health authorities to treat people in a wide variety of settings, including conflict zones, urban slums, prisons, refugee camps and rural areas. Over the years MSF has been involved in the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in the countries of the region including Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
MSF has also been involved in efforts to find shorter and safer drug-resistant TB treatment regimens through 3 clinical trials: TB-PRACTECAL, endTB and endTB-Q. The WHO recommendations for four 6 and 9-month regimens (including BPaLM and BPaL) to treat DR-TB were prompted by evidence mainly from the TB-PRACTECAL and endTB trials.
About KNCV TB Plus: KNCV TB Plus is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the fight against tuberculosis (TB), and related health problems like HIV, antimicrobial resistance, and COVID-19. Over the past 121 years, the organization has acquired indispensable knowledge and experience in the field of effective TB prevention and care, resulting in pre-elimination in the Netherlands and significant contributions to global evidence generation, policy development and TB program implementation worldwide. By being an international knowledge center, KNCV promotes effective, efficient, innovative and situation specific strategies and solutions to eliminate TB and related health problems in a national and international context.
