The mission of the GDI is to serve as a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary platform organizing and coordinating the efforts of stakeholders to assist countries to build capacity for programmatic management of DR-TB (PMDT) in the public and private sector. The ultimate aim is to ensure universal access to care and appropriate treatment for all DR-TB patients. The group will mobilize resources and undertake activities to ensure a holistic, quality-assured, patient-centred approach for all DR-TB patients within existing TB care structures as well as through innovative new partnerships in priority countries.

Strategic priorities

The GDI will have the following strategic priorities:

  • Build global consensus on appropriate management of DR-TB for patient-centred care delivery in accordance with international best practices;
  • Promote strategies to facilitate patient access to high-quality DR-TB care, including among especially vulnerable populations such as miners, migrants and displaced persons through a long-term, in-country capacity building approach targeting both the public and private sector;
  • Facilitate appropriate integration and coordination of efforts to align diagnostic services for patients with access to high-quality care;
  • Facilitate strengthening DR-TB reporting and monitoring systems to improve patient notification, drug management, patient medical records, and community based care through public and private facilities;
  • Facilitate effective knowledge sharing among partners and harmonise coordination with existing technical assistance mechanisms (such as TBTEAM) to ensure quality support to PMDT;
  • Strengthen regional frameworks and collaboration with rGLCs for support to country level PMDT expansion activities;
  • Develop targeted advocacy strategies and resource mobilization for DR-TB management scale-up;
  • Support prioritization of research to generate evidence for PMDT scale-up.

GDI will provide the necessary umbrella structure to facilitate integration, partnership building, and coordination of activities. As an initiative with broad-based multi-institutional and multi-sectoral membership (with core secretariat functions provided by WHO), it is expected to be in a position to influence and facilitate the much needed integration and sustainability of DR-TB care as part of overall health systems strengthening, both at global and country level.

Terms of reference for the GDI include:

  • Support the dissemination of guidelines and evidence-based policies, norms and standards;
  • Facilitate coordination of partner support for PMDT expansion through existing mechanisms;
  • Promote communication and coordination among Stop TB Partnership Working Groups and members, and across WHO Departments, on drug-resistant TB related issues;
  • Support PMDT expansion through the regional frameworks and recommend strategies based on global and regional analysis on progress in DR-TB scale-up;
  • Guide ad-hoc, need-derived task groups for knowledge sharing, research, advocacy and other priority areas constituted with different partners as leads for priority thematic areas of work;
  • Promote DR-TB related TB advocacy activities, resource mapping and coordinated resource mobilization; and
  • Identify and prioritise the research agenda including operational research for introduction and roll-out of new policies, new tools and recently approved drugs for management of DR TB cases.