The Project Fundo Global Tuberculose FGTB – Brasil (Tuberculosis Global Fund – Brazil), supported by Fiotec and developed by Fiocruz in partnership with Programa Nacional de Controle da Tuberculose (PNCT) (National Program for Tuberculosis Control), of the Ministry of Health, was closed on 04/30 after five years of performance.From this month on, PNCT assumes all activities developed until now by FGTB, including the site www.fundoglobaltb.org.br, whose content will be gradually redirected to the new blog “Tuberculose:circulando a informação” (Tuberculosis: disseminating information).

Unique public and private partnership, dedicated to raise and disburse additional funds for prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, the project congregated governments, civil corporation, private sector and the communities affected, representing a new approach to health international financing.In Brazil, the project is associated to Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública (Ensp/Fiocruz) (National School of Public Health) in partnership with Fundação Ataulfo de Paiva (FAP).

According to the Communication Advisory of FGTB, the project’s impact in technical and political consolidation of the social movement is incontestable.The experience of Comitês Metropolitanos (Metropolitan Committees) – created by the project to operate in different areas of the Country – involving and mobilizing the civil society, increased the reach of control actions.

In the 57 municipalities covered by the project, the financial and technical incentives were directed to qualifications and social mobilization activities, in addition to equipment and inputs to support municipal and state programs of control of the disease and, especially, for actions directed to the groups vulnerable to the disease, such as the prison population and people living in the streets.

Recognition

Along its five years of duration, one of the main contributions of FGTB was to make feasible a permanent education process suitable to the routine needs of the teams and difficulties found in the health services routine.Such actions contributed, in the end of 2011, with recognition of Brazil by the World Health Organization (WHO) for reaching one of the millennium development goals:reduce by half the mortality of tuberculosis concerning 1990.

For Opas-OMS representative, Alfonso Tenório, who follows up tuberculosis control in the country since 2003, Brazil has made a true miracle that spread into all sectors:academy, scientists, media and public managers, especially PNCT, which increased in up to 14 times the budget for the area in the last 10 years.“The Brazilian Global Fund Project has the best evaluation in the world and it is due to continuity of actions.Will is more important than money.FGTB is the “benign metastasis” that grows with dissemination strength and provides sustainability to the entire process”, he affirmed.

Fiotec’s work

In 2007, Fiotec created the FGTB office in order to exclusively receive demands of such project.Three employees worked in the location, directly with the technical team, formed by sanitary medical doctors and professionals of the health area.“Such proximity provided us with agility to meet project’s demands, because we closely lived the objectives and goals.Thus, Fiotec won in quality in service support”, said the Projects analyst Elaine Casanova.

Source:FGTB