A Meeting of Partners to Control TB in the South-East Asia Region was held from 27-30 November 2006 in Jakarta, Indonesia. The meeting brought together over 120 stakeholders in TB control: NTP managers, technical experts, staff from academic institutions, representatives from business and industry, civil society, professional associations, nongovernmental organizations, donor governments and funding agencies. The meeting coincided with the 11th meeting of the Stop TB Partnership Coordinating Board.

Joint sessions in the two meetings led to the formulation of a Call to Stop TB in Asia. The international TB community and Stop TB Partnership have taken note of the fact that Asia carries the highest burden of TB in the world, with only five countries - all situated in Asia - contributing almost half of the world's cases. Members of the Stop TB Coordinating Board and participants at the Meeting of Partners for TB control in the South-East Asia Region endorsed the call. Through collective will and support we must stop TB from depleting household and national incomes and trapping Asia's poor in a vicious cycle of disease and poverty. The Call to Stop TB in Asia urges all decision makers, national and local governments, technical and financial partners to fully support the implementation of the new Stop TB Strategy in Asia, recognizing that success in Asia would be critical for TB control globally in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

As a side-event to the meeting, there was a high-level visit to Indonesian Vice President, Yusuf Kalla, and field visits to several sites, such as Persahabatan Hospital, Gatot Soebroto Army Hospital, Tebet Health Center, Kampung Bali Health Center and Central PPTI (the Indonesian Assosiation against Tuberculosis). These visits were attended by the UN Special Envoy to Stop TB (also former president of Portugal), Jorge Sampaio; Chairwoman of the Stop TB Partnership Coordinating Board, Irene Koek; Assistant Director General - WHO AIDS TB and Malaria, A. Asamoah-Baah; Director of Stop TB Partnership - WHO, Mario Raviglione; Regional Director for WHO-South-East Regional Office (SEARO), Samlee Plianbangchang; and Minister of Health Republic of Indonesia, DR. dr. Siti Fadilah Supari.