Even after the 2018 UN High-Level Meeting (UNHLM) on TB Declaration was made and bold TB Preventative Therapy (TPT) targets were set, most national TB programmes were slow in updating their TPT policies. In most cases, national governments were not even considering increasing the health budgets to support the scale-up of TPT regimens.
To advance TPT policy preparedness in the East African region, STOP TB Partnership Kenya—which hosts the Africa Members of Parliament (MP) TB Caucus—has been engaging lawmakers to support both the development of policies and budgets for TPT.
MPs from the African region were sensitized about the need to invest in TPT at the August 2019 3rd Pan African Parliament TB Summit which was attended by 60 parliamentarians. To move closer to achieving the UN HLM targets of putting 30 million people on TPT by 2022, MPs were urged to increase domestic-level uptake of progressive TPT policies and to encourage health investment in newer TPT regimens.
STOP TB Partnership Kenya in collaboration with CHAI and the World Health Organization (WHO) continue to work with MPs in Kenya and East Africa on the need to invest in TB prevention in their countries and to encourage MPs to recognize their role as custodians of national policies and as influential bodies on national budgets and to increase their involvement in national TPT policy preparedness. This has led to the signing of two statements by the regional East African and Kenyan parliaments on the need for scaled-up investments in TPT. STOP TB Partnership Kenya also continues to monitor and provide technical support to MPs, who are championing the TPT agenda at the national level.
