Thailand - Stop TB Partnership

meetings, and health worker training in northern Thailand. RIT-supported TB research
in Chiangrai has generated important data on TB, TB/HIV, MDR-TB, and behavioral challenges
to TB control since 1995.
Finally, the Global Fund has provided an important source of funding for TB control
activities, particularly as many Thai experts believe that TB has often been neglected by
international donors operating in Asia compared to the attention received by other diseases
such as avian flu. 157 The first phase of the $6.9 million (261 million baht) TB grant has
so far been used to support training for health care workers; DOTS expansion in prisons,
poor urban areas, and HIV/TB integrated service centers; and establishment of surveillance
and monitoring systems to track the spread of MDR-TB among vulnerable populations. As
noted above, Thai TB experts express concern that the NTP could grow dependent on Global
Fund resources to cover the cost of core activities rather than for short-term, supplemental
purposes; Global Fund support for TB control activities is assured through 2008, but there
is no guarantee of funding beyond this date. 158
Some Thai experts voice regret that the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM),
which includes both public and private institutions and organizations among its members, 159
appears to act mainly as a “secretary to the Global Fund” once a grant is approved. These
commentators feel that a more prominent role for Thai experts in overseeing implementation
and evaluation of grant effectiveness would be warranted. 160
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TB POLICY IN THAILAND