New Delhi, Nov 10 (IANS): The Executive Director of the 'Stop TB Partnership' Dr. Lucica Ditiu and her team on Thursday met Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and appreciated the "unprecedented leadership by the Government of India" in leading the global TB elimination response.

Ditiu also praised India's efforts by providing a strong vision, which is backed by effective management and expedited rollout of critical programmatic and policy interventions, including new diagnostic tests, social support initiatives and the accelerated efforts develop a new TB vaccine.

The discussion also focused on the strong leadership role being provided by India to eliminate TB, and the opportunity to raise the narrative on TB globally through India's upcoming G20 Presidency.

As Mandaviya also serves as the Chair of the Stop TB Partnership's Board, he agreed to host the Stop TB Partnership's 36th Board meeting on March 25-26, 2023, in Varanasi.

The Board meeting will be preceded by a high-level event on March 24, 2023, which is also observed globally as World TB Day.

The group also applauded the launch of the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan - through the initiative, over 40,492 donors have come forward to support over 10,45,269 patients across the country.

This includes providing additional social support to TB patients in overcoming treatment and its benefits to create a community-led movement to end TB.

Ditiu also committed to supporting ten TB patients through this initiative.

The 'Stop TB Partnership' is an international organisation working to align stakeholders from across the world, with a mission to serve every person who is vulnerable to TB and ensure that high-quality diagnosis, treatment and care is available to all who need it.

It was founded in 2001 and its Secretariat is hosted by United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in Geneva, Switzerland.