#WorldTBDay, marked on March 24, aims to raise global awareness of the impact of tuberculosis worldwide. It also emphasizes the importance of sharing success in the prevention and control of tuberculosis in accelerating progress towards the elimination of this life-threatening disease.
This year’s World TB Day theme, Invest to End TB. Save Lives reminds leaders that without adequate financial resources to fight TB, we will not be able to reverse the severe impact of COVID-19, nor will we be able to meet the goals set at the 2018 United Nations Summit (UNHLM).
SEEHN and its partners are working together to support the SEEHN Member States efforts to eliminate this deadly disease.
A multi-country – TAIEX Workshop on Good Practice in Strengthening Health Systems for the Prevention and the Control of TB in the SEEHN Member States (Western Balkans and beyond) will be held on March 28 and 29, 2022.
The aim of the meeting is to map the current Tuberculosis (TB) situation, review the TB management, and develop recommendations for national comprehensive policies, strategies and plans for scaling up programmes towards effective interventions to prevent and control TB in the South Eastern Europe Region.
This initiative is a result of SEEHN Secretariat partnership with IPH Albania, funded by the European Commission TAIEX and it will be implemented in the Western Balkans, Moldova and Turkey.

Skopje, 21 March 2022 – A week after she was appointed as the National Health Coordinator of the Republic of North Macedonia, Prof. Elena Petrova-Kostova, MD, Faculty of Medicine, Skopje, paid a working visit to the SEEHN Secretariat.

At the meeting, Dr Dasic, the SEEHN Secretariat Director, presented the last year’s achievements under the Serbian Presidency. She shared short and medium-term plans aiming to identify challenges and opportunities for strengthening the practical aspects of the work of the SEEHN. In addition, she explained the role of the SEEHN Secretariat and emphasized its importance as the main engine for providing administrative and technical support to the Network’s activities.

Prof. Petrova-Kostova offered her full support to future SEEHN endeavors aimed at boosting regional cooperation, especially in the area of public health.

The discussion stressed the need to take follow-up actions on the Ad-Hoc Plenary meeting that took place on 17 March 2022 online, when the Fifth Ministerial Forum and the Ukrainian crisis were identified as key priorities.  Both parties agreed that intensifying the dialogue in the next period is the best way forward.