Pöördumine

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

UN City, Marmorvej 51 Tel.: +45 45 33 70 00 Email: [email protected] DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø Denmark

Fax: +45 45 33 70 01 Website: https://www.who.int/europe

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION ORGANISATION MONDIALE DE LA SANTÉ

WELTGESUNDHEITSORGANISATION ВСЕМИРНАЯ ОРГАНИЗАЦИЯ ЗДРАВООХРАНЕНИЯ

Date: 16 April 2024 Ms Anniki Lai Deputy Secretary General on Health Ministry of Social Affairs Suur-Ameerika 1 10122 Tallinn Estonia

REGIONAL OFFICE FOR EUROPE BUREAU RÉGIONAL DE L’EUROPE

REGIONALBÜRO FÜR EUROPA ЕВРОПЕЙСКОЕ РЕГИОНАЛЬНОЕ БЮРО

Head office:

UN City, Marmorvej 51, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark

Tel.: +45 45 33 70 00; Fax: +45 45 33 70 01 Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.who.int/europe

Our reference: Notre référence: Unser Zeichen: См. наш номер:

Your reference: Votre référence: Ihr Zeichen: 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.

– 2 –

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