WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DE LA SANTÉ
WELTGESUNDHEITSORGANISATION
ВСЕМИРНАЯ ОРГАНИЗАЦИЯ ЗДРАВООХРАНЕНИЯ
Date: 16 April 2024
REGIONAL OFFICE FOR EUROPE
BUREAU RÉGIONAL DE L’EUROPE
REGIONALBÜRO FÜR EUROPA
Ms Anniki Lai
ЕВРОПЕЙСКОЕ РЕГИОНАЛЬНОЕ БЮРО Deputy Secretary General on Health
Head office:
Ministry of Social Affairs
UN City, Marmorvej 51, Suur-Ameerika 1
DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark 10122 Tallinn
Tel.: +45 45 33 70 00; Fax: +45 45 33 70 01
Email:
[email protected] Estonia
Website: https://www.who.int/europe
Our reference: Your reference:
Notre référence: Votre référence:
Unser Zeichen: Ihr Zeichen:
См. наш номер: На Ваш номер:
Dear Ms Lai,
Request for Nomination to attend the Regional Meeting Organised by the WHO Regional Office
for Europe and the Federal Ministry of Health of Germany on Improving Access and
Availability of Medicines for TB and DR-TB in Europe, 3-4 June 2024 in Berlin, Germany
Since 2022, WHO has recommended the adoption of 6-month short all-oral regimens for treating the
majority of patients with multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), containing bedaquiline, pretomanid,
linezolid, and moxifloxacin. These regimens have demonstrated high effectiveness and safety,
especially in reducing the therapy duration from 20 to 6 months and minimizing the pill burden.
However, the high costs of the regimen components in Central and Western European countries,
coupled with the escalating number of DR-TB notifications, pose a significant limitation to the
widespread adoption of these new recommendations for the benefit of patients. Recognizing the
urgency of the situation and the escalating demand for DR-TB medicines, WHO and partners are
planning to collaborate closely with Member States to collectively address concerns related to access
and availability of medicines for TB and DR-TB. Notably, several Central and Western European
countries have already raised these concerns at the Second UN High-level meeting on TB during the
78th UN General Assembly in September 2023 in New York. Unfortunately, this situation does not
seem to have improved since then.
To address this, the WHO Regional Office for Europe, jointly with the Federal Ministry of Health of
Germany are organizing a regional meeting on Improving Access and Availability of Medicines for
TB and DR-TB in Europe. The meeting will take place on 3-4 June 2024 in Berlin, Germany. This
meeting will gather representatives of ministries of health, national drug regulatory agencies, public
health professionals, partners, and supranational stakeholders to discuss, share insights, and
collectively work towards effective national and supranational solutions to enhance access and
availability of medicines for TB and DR-TB.
I have the pleasure to extend an invitation to this meeting to you and kindly ask you to nominate
representatives from the national drug regulatory authority and officers responsible for/coordinating
the procurement and supply management of medicines for participation in this meeting. Regrettably,
the organizers will not be able to cover costs associated with travel and accommodation but will
provide lunches and coffee during the meeting.
UN City, Marmorvej 51 Tel.: +45 45 33 70 00 Email:
[email protected]
DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø Fax: +45 45 33 70 01 Website: https://www.who.int/europe
Denmark
Address of the venue: WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, Prinzessinnenstrasse 17-
18, 10969 Berlin, Germany
WHO strongly encourages in-person participation; however, the remote format will also be possible to
extend the audience. The provisional agenda, scope and purpose, and further details will be shared by
1 May 2024. Additionally, the format of the meeting is hybrid, so there will be a possibility for other
colleagues to join remotely.
For organizational purposes, we kindly ask you to return nominations by 25 April 2024 and send
confirmation to Dr. Askar Yedilbayev, Regional TB Adviser, at
[email protected]
We truly hope you will find joining this meeting interesting, and we will be happy to see you in
Berlin.
Yours Sincerely,
Mr Robb Butler
Director
Division of Communicable Diseases, Environment and Health
Copy for information to:
Ms Triin Uusberg, Head, European Union Affairs and International Co-operation Department, Ministry of
Social Affairs, Suur-Ameerika 1, 10129 Tallinn, Estonia
H.E. Ms Riia Salsa-Audiffren, Ambassador Representative of the Republic of Estonia, Permanent Mission of
the Republic of Estonia to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, Chemin
du Petit-Saconnex 28A, CH-1209 Genève, Switzerland
H.E. Mr William Mart Laanemäe, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Embassy of the Republic of
Estonia, Frederiksgade 19, 4th floor, 1265 Copenhagen K, Denmark
Ms Kristina Köhler, Liaison Officer, WHO Country Office, Estonia, Paldiski Road 81, 10617 Tallinn, Estonia
–2–
Saatja: EURO TB <
[email protected]>
Saadetud: 16.04.2024 15:29
Adressaat: <"Anniki Lai">
Koopia: <"Heli Paluste">; <"Triin Uusberg">; <"SM Info">;
<
[email protected]>; Kaisa.Mitt-Alvarez <
[email protected]>;
<
[email protected]>; <
[email protected]>; KÖHLER, Kristina
<
[email protected]>; YEDILBAYEV, Askar <
[email protected]>
Teema: Nomination Request for the Regional Meeting Organised by the WHO
Regional Office for Europe and the Federal Ministry of Health of Germany
on Improving Access and Availability of Medicines for TB and DR-TB in
Europe. 3-4 June 2024 in Berlin, Germany
Dear Ms Lai,
Please find attached, correspondence from the WHO Regional Office for
Europe, for your kind attention.
We look forward to your reply.
Thank you.
With kind regards,
EURO TB team