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United States, WHO, and the Government of India:
Partners in confronting tuberculosis
 
Mr. David C. Mulford, United States
Ambassador to India;
Dr S. J. Habayeb, WHO Representative to India; and
Dr L. S. Chauhan, Deputy Director General (TB), Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare, Government of India
On
26 September 2006, Mr David C. Mulford,
US Ambassador to India, and Dr S. J. Habayeb,
WHO Representative to India,
signed a Joint Statement on their strong commitment to TB control. The US Government is providing, through the
US Agency for International Development (USAID), an amount of US$4.2 million
to WHO for technical support to the Revised National
Tuberculosis Control Programme of the Government of India in 2006. The signing event was undertaken in the
presence of Dr L. S. Chauhan, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare, Government of India; George Deikun,
Mission Director, USAID; Robert Clay, Director, Office of Population,
Health and Nutrition, USAID; other US officials, including Larry
Schwartz, Christopher Barrett, Don Brown, Kris Easter, and Corina Sanders; and WHO officials: Dr Suvanand
Sahu and Dr D. Fraser Wares.
Dr Habayeb commended the strength of the technical
collaboration with the US
in the health sector, through USAID, CDC, and HHS in support of health
development efforts in India. In addition to TB control, he noted that
cooperation covers key joint priority areas for both the US and WHO, such as disease
surveillance, malaria control, polio eradication and influenza pandemic
preparedness & response. The
development assistance of USAID to WHO-India has aggregated at US $56 million
in recent years. The US support has been instrumental
in bringing much value added to the health programmes, notably by supporting
research, sharing international experience, promoting quality aspects,
facilitating state level implementation, and dealing with second generation
issues, such as drug resistance and HIV/TB interaction. Ultimately, and above all, this generous
support saves lives, and the benefits accrue to the poor, since the disease
impact disproportionately affects poor households.
Finally,
the WHO Representative applauded the major progress made by the National TB
Control Programme of the Government of India, which has now attained
universal coverage, promoted public private partnerships, and embarked on
further quality improvements, while dealing with 2nd generation
issues and promoting sustainability.
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