Chad is one of the 48 TB high-burden countries listed by the World Health Organization. The country suffers particularly form TB/HIV co-infections. In 2018, an estimated 22,000 people were diagnosed with TB representing only 59% of the notified cases. At the current rate of progress, WHO forecasts that 117,000 people will die of tuberculosis and 439,780 will become ill until 2030 and tuberculosis will cost Chad at least US 1.035 billion in the same period of time, covered by the sustainable development goals.That is the reason why Chad is on the Global Tb Caucus’ list of priority countries and we have been working for a few months now, to launch a National TB Caucus there.
From the 5th to the 7th of November, a delegation of the Global TB Caucus, led by Deborah Ogwuche, Francophone Regional Manager and Senator Pierre Ngayap, Chair of the Francophone TB caucus, visited the country and attended the official launch of the Chad TB Caucus.
While they were there, they met with the National TB program coordinator Dr Oumar Abdelhadi and other program officers to discuss and acquire first hand information on the TB response and situation in Chad. This meeting was followed by an encounter with the minister of public health, Professor Mahamoud Youssouf Khayal. The meeting was an occasion for Senator Ngayap to present the Global TB Caucus’ work and activities. Senator Ngayap advocated for a close collaboration with all relevant ministries e.g., ministry of education, sanitation, nutrition, gender and human rights, communication etc. to give TB the necessary attention it deserves.
Following that, the delegation met with local CSOs, including l’Action des Jeunes dans la Lutte contre la Tuberculose (AJLT), led by Djasnarbe Ndolmbaye, also our focal point in Chad, who helped organizing and creating contacts in-country.
After this day of pre-launching activities, the official launch of the National Caucus took place on the 7th of November, in the National Assembly of Chad under the high patronage of the President of the National Assembly, the Hon. Dr Haroun Kabadi and with the participation of members of Parliament, the permanent secretary representing the minister of health, the World Health Organization country representative, members of Civil Society, development partners and other relevant stakeholders. The event resulted in the official launch of the Chad TB Caucus by the signature of the Barcelona Declaration. The national caucus counts 21 members, including the hon. Dr Malloum Kadre, who will also assume the role of chair of the national caucus.
By the end of the official launch, the delegation also met with the President of the National Assembly who expressed great appreciation to the Global TB Caucus for its interest in Chad and pledged to do his part to support future activities of the national caucus.
Last but not least, the new members of the Chad national TB caucus gathered to discuss the next steps of their work with Senator Pierre Ngayap, who welcomes them into the Global TB Caucus.