1. INTRODUCTION
Good management remains crucial to the success of national tuberculosis control programmes. Recognizing this fact, the Regional Tuberculosis Programme organized training courses on management of tuberculosis programmes at district level in Manila, the Philippines, in July 1993 and in Fiji in l994. In July 1995 a training course was held in Phnom Penh to upgrade skills in managing the tuberculosis programmes in three countries (Cambodia, Lao PDR and Viet Nam).
In January 1997, an Asia-Pacific inter-regional workshop took place in Sydney, Australia, with a focus on management of tuberculosis at national level.
However, there was obviously a need for the Western Pacific Region to organize a comprehensive three-week training course, focusing on management issues for tuberculosis control.
The expected outcome of the new three-week training course is to provide qualified personnel for national tuberculosis programmes (NTP) in countries of the Region. The course is called Regional Training Course on the Management of Tuberculosis Programmes at Intermediate Level.
2. PROCEEDINGS
2.l Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony gathered together representatives of WHO, the Japanese Anti-tuberculosis Association (JATA) and the Chinese Ministry of Health. The WHO representative in China conveyed the welcome and greetings from Dr S.T. Han, Regional Director of WHO Western Pacific Region. Dr T. Shimao, Director of JATA, Dr Wang Zhao, Ministry of Health, and Dr Duanmu Hong Jin, from the National TB Center, extended their welcome to all participants.
2.2 Objectives
The objectives of the course were:
(1) to learn the basic concept and strategy for tuberculosis control;
(2) to upgrade managerial skills for national tuberculosis programmes (NTP) and implementation of directly-observed treatment, short course (DOTS) nationwide using the WHO training modules Managing TB at District Level and Managing TB at National Level; and
