Article was originally titled, "Moldova looks to relaunch TB Caucus with strong parliament backing", last 26 October 2021
December 2021, Update -- The Moldovan TB Caucus has officially relaunched, confirmed by the Parliamentary Secretariat in Moldova. The signed Barcelona Declaration consisted of signatures from 9 Members of Parliament:
Dan PERCIUN – Chairman, Committee on social protection, healthcare and family Adrian BELII – Deputy Chairman, Committee on social protection, healthcare and family
Vladimir ODNOSTALCO - Deputy Chairman, Committee on social protection, healthcare and family
Reghina APOSTOLOVA - Deputy Chairwoman, Committee on social protection, healthcare and family
Maria PANCU, Secretary, Committee on social protection, healthcare and family
Veaceslav NIGAI, Member, Committee on social protection, healthcare and family
Alla DAROVANNAIA, Member, Committee on social protection, healthcare and family
Dorian ISTRATII, Member, Committee on social protection, healthcare and family
Ana OGLINDA, Member, Committee on social protection, healthcare and family
The first working meeting took place on the 15 of December, representing the official restart of the National TB Caucus in Moldova with new Members of Parliament. Following this, they adopted a resolution that accounted for the interests of civil society as well as people affected by TB that is set to serve as a foundation for their upcoming activities in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The online event also saw to adopt the experience of Tajikistan in its work and agree on subsequent actions at the national level. In line with this, Hon Jamshed Murtazakulov, Co-chair of the EECA region and Head of the National TB Caucus in Tajikistan, shared his experience working with national TB stakeholders and the newly elected head of the National TB Caucus in Moldova and Head of the Health Committee in Moldova, Hon Dan Perchun, confirmed their intention to continue and improve on the active work committed by their National TB Caucus civil society and partners since 2017.
Ms. Liliana Karaulan, TB REP 2.0 Program Coordinator, was also present during the occasion, showcasing how the activities and results of the TB-REP 2.0 project were carried out in the EECA region. Ms Liliana also pointed out that the work of the project is carried out with particular focus on involved communities, people affected by TB, and civil society. As she shared these points, she emphasised the development of an integrated and people-centered approach -- ensuring efforts are built around removing barriers at the community and health system levels to ensure that TB care is timely, quality, universal and comprehensive.
Read on for the copy of the declaration:
25 October 2021, Chisnau -- An online meeting recently took place between partners of TB-REP 2.0 and the chairman of the parliamentary commission on health in the Republic of Moldova, in which the issue of relaunching the National Assembly on control of Tuberculosis (TB Caucus) was discussed. It was a necessary event in light of the recent formation of the Republic of Moldova's new Parliament.
Alesia Matusevych, the Caucus' EECA Regional Coordinator, was present to give perspectives on the different realities in the region, the work parliamentarians do and various approaches to protecting the rights of people affected by the infectious disease. During TB Caucus meetings, parliamentarians share their experiences and discuss issues such as the impact of COVID-19 on TB services, as well as their national experiences and progress in the context of TB control.
Moldova first joined the global initiative of parliamentarians involved in fighting tuberculosis back in July 2017. The first members of the national-level TB Caucus movement brought together 29 MPs, who signed the declaration during its establishment. Today, it is considered to be the largest group of national parliamentarians in the TB Caucus global movement.
The meeting on the 13th of October 2021 was attended by:
Dan Perchun, Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission for Social Protection, Health and Family
Dr. Sofia Alexandru, Director of the Institute of Phthisiopulmonology "Kirill Draganiuk"
Valentina Vilk, coordinator of the National Tuberculosis Control Program
Alesya Matusevich, coordinator for the EECA region from the Global TB Focus
Oksana Rukshinianu, Vice-Director of the Moldovan National Association of TB Patients "SMIT" ("Society of Moldova Against TB")
Pavel Rukshinianu, Director of the Moldovan National Association of TB Patients "SMIT" ("Society of Moldova Against TB")
Liliana Karaulan, acting Director of the The Center for Health Policies and Studies (PAS Center)
Cristina Celan, Project Manager, PAS Center
Olga Ozhog, Chief Consultant of the Parliamentary Commission for Social Protection, Health and Family.
They discussed the feasibility of re-launching the parliamentary platform of the TB Caucus movement, considering the results and achievements of the former team, as well as the experience of other countries and the possibilities of cooperation at the parliamentary level.
Notably, participants agreed that the 2017-2019 movement was one of the most active in the region, culminating in the public hearings “Global mobilization and commitments in the fight against tuberculosis. Multisectoral Approaches to Recovery in the Republic of Moldova ”, which was organized on March 14, 2018 and included the participation of regional partners. Based on the results of public hearings, a Resolution was adopted that ensures the sustainability of medical and social support services for people undergoing TB treatment at the outpatient level.
The experts of the WHO European Office and the PAS Center were also conveyed to be in direct dialogue with the global initiatives of parliamentarians involved in the fight against Tuberculosis.
At the end of the meeting, Dan Perchun, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Social Protection, Health and Family, confirmed his interest in resuming the national TB Caucus in Moldova and his readiness to engage in solving other pressing problems related to Tuberculosis in Moldova.
This post was adapted from the article "The relaunch of TB Caucus was discussed in Moldova with the backing of the chairman of the parliamentary commission on health". View the original article here.
About the Global TB Caucus
The Global TB Caucus is the world's largest independent parliamentary network with over 2,500 members from over 150 countries. The network covers 4 geographic regions: Europe and Central Asia, Africa, America, Asia-Pacific and 2 language regions - Francophone and Portuguese. Parliamentarians of the Caucus work both collectively and individually to accelerate progress in the fight against TB.
About TB -REP 2.0
Since 2016, PAS has been implementing a regional program funded by the Global Fund to Fight HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria to promote a people-centered model of quality tuberculosis (TB) care (TB-REP -2016-2018 and TB -REP 2.0 - 2019-2021). The program covers 11 countries in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region, including the Republic of Moldova, and is implemented in partnership with the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, TBEC European Coalition, (TB People), and network of parliamentarians participating in the fight against tuberculosis (the Global TB Caucus).
One of the activities of the program, implemented in conjunction with GBTC, is to mobilize members of parliament from TB-REP countries and advance TB-related issues in the legislative agenda in each of the 11 countries of the EEAC Region.