Strengthening the capacity and capability of civil society to drive the TB response in Europe

2026-07-22

TB Europe Coalition (TBEC) is the only regional civil society network working exclusively on TB in the WHO Europe region and, with 180 members in 35 WHO Europe countries, is uniquely positioned to increase the political will needed to end the TB epidemic across the region by strengthening the coordinated response of civil society. Despite being preventable and curable, tuberculosis (TB) is the biggest infectious disease killer. Global leaders have committed to end the epidemic by 2030 but, at current rates of progress, this will not be achieved for another 100 years at least. 2018 was a turning point in the fight against TB; the UN High-Level Meeting on TB spurred unprecedented political attention for TB. It is essential that civil society work collectively in 2019 to ensure that this momentum is not lost. TBEC members will play a significant role in holding national governments, and the region collectively, to account. TBEC has identified health system financing, people-centred TB policy, and TB R&D as the key thematic priorities in the region for the next three years. TBEC has identified four key objectives for 2019 work plan: 1) well-structured TBEC governance and accountability mechanisms; 2) robust processes for communication and external outreach, including first ever comprehensive media strategy and new TBEC website; 3) strong partnerships with key decision makers, influencers and civil society in interdependent policy areas, in particular TBEC priority thematic areas; and 4) knowledge exchange visit from the high-burden TB EU countries, online webinars and publications. TBEC’s objectives are directly relevant to the four 3rd Health Programme Objectives and DG SANTE and will further increase the EU’s existing public health knowledge on TB, advance coordinated efforts to combat DR-TB and TB/HIV co-infection, and subsequently, reduce the financial burden of TB on health systems and, positively impact the health of citizens in the European region.

United Kingdom (UK)

2026-02-01