Community Engagement in NSP Development

In TB, the concept of meaningful involvement of the community started to emerge only with the establishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) and the introduction of Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCMs). The concept of meaningful engagement of people affected by TB later evolved with the adoption of the Funding Model and introduction of the requirement to have country dialogue – a participatory process of development of country applications. Finally, in its Sustainability, Transition and Co-financing Policy, the GFATM speaks about an “inclusive multi-stakeholder process” of development of National Health and Disease-Specific Strategic Plans (NSPs). While CCM and country dialogue may serve as a good proxy for assessment of community engagement in national TB-related decision-making, it is more comprehensively and accurately reflected in the way they are engaged in the development of NSPs. However, so far there have not been any systemic attempts to assess community engagement in this process. To address this gap, TBPEOPLE, the global network of people affected by TB, with financial support of the GFATM conducted a study on engagement of the communities of people affected by TB in the processes of NSP development as an indicator of broader community engagement in national decision- and policy-making processes. ​ The study revealed some of the challenges and barriers faced by community organizations, and came up with a set of recommendations, which are expected to help improve the situation with community engagement