Let no child die of pneumonia

Clarity Sibanda, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe
The Global Coalition Against Childhood Pneumonia (GCACP) says pneumonia is the most deadly infectious disease for children under the age of 5 worldwide and although statistics from 2000 to 2015 reveal that the annual death toll from childhood pneumonia decreased from 1.7 million deaths annually to 920,000 in 2015. 2,500 children still die from pneumonia every day. This amounts to 16% of all child deaths.

Fighting pneumonia, the number one killer of children

Francis Okoye, CNS Correspondent, Nigeria
[First published in nigeriapoliticsmagazine.com ]
Medical and media experts gathered recently in a webinar hosted by Citizen News Service to deliberate on how to address the world’s deadliest childhood infection: pneumonia. According to the Global coalition against childhood pneumonia (GCACP), pneumonia is the most deadly infectious illness for children under age 5 worldwide. Even though from 2000 to 2015,the annual death toll from childhood pneumonia decreased from 1.7 million deaths annually to 920,000 in 2015, approximately 2,5000 children still die from pneumonia every day.

Lung cancer: Ensuring the right treatment at the right time to the right patient

Shobha Shukla, Citizen News Service - CNS
Dr Navneet Singh, PGIMER (L), Shobha Shukla, CNS (C)
and Dr Marzi Mehta, surgical oncologist (R)
Lung cancer is the most common cancer worldwide. In 2012, there were an estimated 1.8 million new lung cancer cases (13% of all cancers diagnosed), and 1.59 million deaths (19.4% of the total cancer deaths). According to the latest cancer registry data released by the Indian Council of Medical Research, 0.114 million new lung cancer cases (83,000 in males and 31,000 in females) are estimated during 2016 in India.

Intergrated responses are key to improve the outcomes on youth SRHR

Rahul Kumar Dwivedi, CNS Correspondent, India
To improve coordination and responses on youths Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), a state level inter-sectoral coordination meet is convened today under the auspices of Citizen News Service (CNS) in collaboration with Youth Champion Initiative (YCI) and FPA India. Around 50 representatives from government agencies (National Heath Mission, SIFPSA, Health & Family Welfare, Education) and other sectors such as (Youth, Women, PLHIV, Medical Professionals, NGOs, and Media), met to discuss integrated responses for ensuring sexual and reproductive health and rights for the young people. 

[Podcast] No meeting #SDGs by 2030 if we fail to prevent #BreastCancer deaths


[Listen or download this podcast here] This is the audio recording of a webinar in lead up to World Cancer Day 2017, on breast cancer related issues. Panel of experts included: Priya Kanayson, Advocacy Officer, NCD Alliance; Dr Pooja Ramakant, Associate Professor, Department of Endocrine and Breast Surgery, King George's Medical University (KGMU); Prof Anand Mishra, Head of the Department of Endocrine and Breast Surgery, KGMU; and Bret Miller, 6 years breast-cancer-survivor and founder of Male Breast Cancer Coalition. [Listen or download this podcast here]

[Webinar] Are we on track to reduce #BreastCancer deaths by 1/3 by 2030?



Stronger health systems necessary to address pneumonia- a major killer of children under 5

Citizen News Service - CNS
Despite being preventable and treatable, it is unacceptable that Pneumonia continues to be a leading infectious killer for children under five years globally. Dr Ajay Mishra, Senior Director and Head of Paediatrics, Nelson Hospital in Lucknow, said in a webinar (recording, podcast) that "while pneumonia in children is preventable and treatable, it still remains the number one killer of children below the age of 5 years, killing 760,000 children aged 1-59 months in 2015.

Saving lives from TB-HIV co-infection through integrated care

Josephine Chinele, CNS Correspondent, Malawi
Over 50% of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Malawi develop TB at some point of time and 7% of TB patients die whilst on treatment. International Union against TB and Lung Disease Press Statement titled TB 2016 and AIDS 2016: Jointly Tackling the Co-epidemic released in July this year says that these diseases together make up a co-epidemic, posing unique challenges to individuals and communities that bear the burden of both diseases at the same time.

Why The World cannot fight AIDS by ignoring TB?

Francis Okoye, CNS Correspondent, Nigeria
Medical and historical evidence now abound, showing that the world cannot fight AIDS by ignoring TB. In 2015, the world recorded 10.4 million new TB cases of which people living with HIV (PLHIV) accounted for 1.2 million (11%) cases. There were an estimated 1.4 million TB deaths, with 400,000 deaths resulting from TB disease among PLHIV.

World AIDS Day 2016: Let HIV/AIDS produce no more orphans

Alice Sagwidza-Tembe, CNS Correspondent, Swaziland
Leafing through my birthday good wishes from friends, family and foes, on my Facebook, WhatsApp, Tweet, Instagram, Skype and other social media accounts, I realised hundreds of postings were well designed cards, songs, articles about the World AIDS Day commemoration.

[Call to register] Webinar: Are we on track to reduce breast cancer deaths by one-third by 2030?

[Watch recording or listen to podcast] Breast cancer is the most common, killer cancer in women. 'Men have breasts too' and less than 1% of breast cancer occur in men. If urgent measures are not taken, in next decade: 19.7 million cases of breast cancer will occur and 5.8 million women will die. But governments have promised to deliver on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, one of which is to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like breast cancer by one-third.

Tackling TB-HIV: The importance of integrated care

Shobha Shukla, Citizen News Service - CNS
Both TB and HIV pose serious health risks. But when these two infections join together, the result is a potentially lethal co-epidemic of TB-HIV. Their coexistence is similar to opposites attracting each other despite glaring differences like two unlike poles of a magnet. They are two linked epidemics that must be fought together, in order to make significant progress in ending both. 

HIV/AIDS: I have come a long way, we have come a long way

Dr Diana Wangari, CNS Special Correspondent, Kenya
Jacqueline Wambui
On the frontlines of advocating for people living with HIV and AIDS in Kenya is Jacqueline Wambui. Gambol is an activist working with the National Empowerment Network of People living with HIV and AIDS (PLHIV) in Kenya and is an AVAC fellow. She shares with CNS special correspondent, Dr Diana Wangari, her personal experience of dealing with HIV. “I am HIV positive and it took me six months to find that out.” This is the beginning of Jacqueline Wambui’s story who tested positive in 2004. “It started off as what one might refer to as the constant cold—I always seemed to have a cold, or at least similar symptoms. My friends would often ask me ‘How is it that you are always unwell’.

Integrated care is critical to saving lives from TB-HIV co-infection

Aarti Dhar, CNS Correspondent, India
(First published in theindiasaga.com)
Tuberculosis (TB) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) pose a serious health risk. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the risk of developing TB is estimated to be between 26 and 31 times greater in people living with HIV (PLHIV). In 2015, there were an estimated 10.4 million new TB cases worldwide, of which PHLIV accounted for 1.2 million (11%) cases.

HIV prevention research: A bimonthly injection to keep HIV away?

Shobha Shukla, CNS (Citizen News Service)
Dr Suwat Chariyalertsak, Director, RIHES, CMU
Pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP, is a relatively new concept of "treatment as prevention" against HIV for those HIV uninfected persons who might be at risk of contracting the virus. Currently, only Truvada, a two-drug (Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate/ Emtricitabine - TDF/FTC) combination pill, is available to be taken for PrEP.  Approved by US FDA in July 2012, Truvada is 100% effective in preventing HIV in those who take this once a day pill at least 4 or more days a week.

[Call to register] Webinar for media on world's leading infectious killer of children < 5: Pneumonia

[Watch recording] [Listen or download podcast]
World's leading infectious killer of children under the age of five years, is Pneumonia. Pneumonia, a common respiratory illness, also has potentially serious outcomes for the elderly. According to Stop Pneumonia, the most vulnerable children are in poor and rural communities, underlining the need to improve equitable access to high quality care, diagnostics, and treatment for all children.

[Podcast] TB and HIV collaborative activities are critically important to end TB and AIDS by 2030


[Click here to listen or download the podcast] This webinar for media was held on 30th November 2016 featuring experts from the AIDS Society of India; People's Health Organisation; and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union); who shared why TB and HIV collaborative activities are so critically important to help the world end TB and AIDS both by 2030. [Click here to listen or download the podcast]

[World AIDS Day webinar] To #endAIDS we can't neglect TB!



It is not enough to promise, we must act to #endAIDS

Shobha Shukla, CNS (Citizen News Service)
[Watch this video interview] [Listen or download the audio podcast] Mahatma Gandhi had once said, "If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning". Gandhi's thought resurfaced after listening to Dr Ishwar Gilada, President of AIDS Society of India (ASI). He could not have been more sincere in demanding action to the fullest to #endAIDS by 2030 as promised by our governments.

Holiday from drugs? A big NO for asthma control!

Shobha Shukla - CNS (Citizen News Service)
An estimated 300 million people are living with asthma worldwide with an additional 100 million new cases expected to be added by 2025. WHO estimates that 15 million disability adjusted life years (DALYs) are lost annually because of this chronic disease that kills an estimated 250,000 people annually. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) hold the promise of reducing deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by one third by 2030 - a tall order indeed, as far as asthma is concerned.

[Podcast] Film-star Anil Kapoor becomes Ambassador for Clean Air and Healthy Lungs at NAPCON 2016


[Listen or download this podcast] One of the most recognized Indian film-stars globally, 60 years old Anil Kapoor, was made the Grand Ambassador for Clean Air and Healthy Lungs at the 18th National Conference on Pulmonary Diseases (NAPCON 2016). Emeritus Director Professor (Dr) KC Mohanty, Chairman of NAPCON 2016 and Dr Ishwar Gilada, Co-Chairman of NAPCON 2016 and President of AIDS Society of India, appealed to Bollywood film-icon to bolster the cause of clean air and healthy lungs. Anil Kapoor is perhaps one of the most fit and healthy actors in the film industry and a champion advocate for health. [Listen or download this podcast]

[Podcast] #endAIDS is possible if we do all what-we-know works: Dr Ishwar Gilada, President, AIDS Society of India


[Listen or download the podcast] Dr Ishwar Gilada is among the first medical doctors who came forward to care for people living with HIV in India. Success breeds complacency and complacency may breed failure. Dr Gilada calls on NOT letting off our feet from gas pedal and instead keep striving hard to keep the promise to end AIDS by 2030 (Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs).This interview is part of CNS Inspire Series. [Listen or download the podcast]

[Focus] #endAIDS is possible: "Belief triggers the power to do..."



Governor of Nagaland exhorts doctors to be socially responsible


[Listen or download this podcast] CNS spoke with Governor of Nagaland, Shri PB Acharya, on lung diseases in India, and priority lung health issues in Nagaland state. He spoke with CNS (Citizen News Service) on the sidelines of the 18th National Conference on Pulmonary Diseases (NAPCON 2016) in Mumbai, India. [Listen or download this podcast]. He exhorted doctors to be socially responsible and be genuine partners to ensure health justice for all, especially for those in rural areas and marginalized communities. [Listen or download this podcast]

Alarming rates of pulmonary diseases warrant urgent action

Shobha Shukla, CNS (Citizen News Service)
Alarming rates of pulmonary diseases in India are warranting urgent action as well as well-coordinated and inter-sectoral comprehensive health responses across the country to ensure every citizen enjoys lung health.

Complacency breeds failure: Consolidate efforts to #endAIDS by 2030

Shobha Shukla, CNS (Citizen News Service)
[Watch this video interview] [Listen or download the audio podcast] Success breeds complacency and complacency breeds failure. When the number of people affected by a disease decreases, there is a tendency to disregard it as a public health problem.

[Focus] Complacency will be a kiss of death for efforts to #endAIDS by 2030


[Podcast in Spanish] Why WHO FCTC Articles 5.3 and 19 are so centrally important to implementation of global tobacco treaty

FCTC Art.19 expert Daniel Dorado,
Corporate Accountability International

Daniel Dorado a senior technical expert on WHO FCTC Article 19 delivering his intervention at the seventh Conference of the Parties to the World Health Organization (7th COP to WHO FCTC) in India: 7th November 2016. Click here to listen or download this podcast in Spanish.

Incompatible? Public health vs tobacco, alcohol and fast food industries

Shobha Shukla, Citizen News Service - CNS
[Read presentation of Prof Jeff Collin] Governments of over 180 countries that have ratified the global tobacco treaty had met recently earlier this month and adopted and advanced strong measures to stop tobacco industry interference in health policy and also to hold tobacco industry liable.The meeting formally called the Seventh Conference of the Parties to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) concluded with commendable progress on WHO FCTC Articles 5.3 and 19 (liability). In this context, I find it pertinent to share some of the learnings from the 47th Union World Conference on Lung Health that was held in Liverpool last month.

[Call to register] Webinar for media: To end AIDS by 2030, we have to stop neglecting TB!

[Watch webinar recording] [Listen or download the audio podcast] In lead up to World AIDS Day 2016 let us recollect governments' promise to end AIDS and TB by 2030. But TB continues to be a lead killer for people living with HIV. What more needs to happen to meet SDGs by 2030?

Are TB programmes responsible for poverty alleviation?

Alice Sagwidza-Tembe, CNS Correspondent, Swaziland
Coming back from the 47th Union World Conference on Lung Health held in Liverpool in October 2016, it is time to reflect upon the myriad advancements and debates to better the quality of care for people with TB—shortening the treatment schedule for multi drug resistant TB (MDR-TB), addressing the otherwise forgotten groups like adolescents, celebrities opening up about having lived with TB, and plenty more on fresh approaches to end the epidemic.

TB anywhere is TB everywhere

Shobha Shukla, Citizen News Service - CNS
TB is still largely considered a poor man’s disease and is generally associated with the socially disadvantaged people living in low and middle income countries. But the story of Liam Joel Taylor proves that, being an air borne infection, TB can strike anyone anywhere.

[Podcast] Complacency will be a kiss of death for efforts to #endAIDS by 2030


[Click here to listen or download this podcast] Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar, Director in-charge of National AIDS Research Institute of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has worked on HIV since 1989, few years after first case got diagnosed in India. He has played a key role in shaping India's health policy on a range of aspects related to HIV care and management. [Click here to listen or download this podcast]

Innovation is no longer a want, it is a need: People centric approach for MDR-TB management

Alice Sagwidza-Tembe, CNS Correspondent, Swaziland
It is essential that any healthcare program in its advancement does not forget the population for whom it is  developed. At the recent 47th Union World Conference on Lung Health with the theme of ‘Confronting resistance: Fundamentals to innovations’, countries shared interesting food for thought and unique advanced approaches to people focused quality care for innovative management of MDR-TB.

Burden of the heart: Cardiovascular diseases

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe
To say that more poor people succumb to non communicable diseases (NCDs) as compared to the rich is not an understatement. One would wonder, why this co-relation between poverty and NCDs— if these diseases are non communicable how do they end up killing more poor people? Poverty stricken communities have little or limited recourse to healthcare, and hence access to medical screening is constrained and at times not available to them.

What can we do to tackle lung health?

Francis Okoye, CNS Correspondent, Nigeria
A webinar organized for the media by Citizen News Service, just prior to the 47th Union World Lung Health Conference, took a special look at lung health. Experts, who spoke on the matter, included Prof Jose A Caminero, Head of MDR-TB unit of International Union Against TB and Lung Diseases (the Union); Diana Weil, Coordinator policy, strategy and innovations unit,WHO Global TB programme; and Grania Brigden, the 3P Project Lead at the Union.

[Focus] Protect WHO FCTC from tobacco industry interference


[Podcast] Not silos but partnerships will drive towards effective tobacco control

Dr Tara Singh Bam

Dr Tara Singh Bam, Regional Advisor for tobacco control at the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) spoke with CNS Managing Editor Shobha Shukla on the sidelines of the 47th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Liverpool, UK. Click here to listen or download this podcast. He reflects on past game-changing successes in tobacco control and calls for accelerating progress in implementing effective tobacco control in countries. He also advocates for broader partnerships among public health programmes across the board for improving outcomes. [Click here to listen or download this podcast]

Justice late is justice denied but still it is better late than never

Shobha Shukla, Citizen News Service - CNS
Dr Enos Masini
In December 2015, at the 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Cape Town, the TB Alliance (Global Alliance for TB Drug Development) and its partners had announced the availability of first-ever child-friendly fixed dose combinations (FDC) for treatment of drug-sensitive pediatric TB.

[Podcast] Veterinary surgeon shares his personal experience with bovine TB


Dr Jonathan Cranston, a veterinary surgeon since past 10 years with mixed animal practice across the United Kingdom shared his personal lived experience with tuberculosis: not human TB but bovine TB. [Listen or download this audio podcast here]. He was in conversation with CNS Managing Editor Shobha Shukla on the sidelines of 47th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Liverpool, UK. [Click here to download or listen to this podcast]

We all can work, but together we win: Unite to #EndTB

Shobha Shukla, Citizen News Service - CNS
[Listen or download the podcast] Despite commitment from the governments to end tuberculosis (TB) by 2030 (one of the targets of Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs) the pace of TB decline casts serious doubts on eliminating TB in the next 14 years.

UK Veterinary surgeon's battle with bovine TB

Shobha Shukla, Citizen News Service - CNS
Dr Jonathan Cranston, UK
[Listen or download this podcast] Have you ever heard of animals transmitting TB to humans? I am sure many of us have not. And yet in 2015 there were an estimated 149,000 such new human cases of zoonotic (bovine) TB globally and 13,400 deaths. Unlike conventional TB, which is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis), zoonotic TB in humans is caused by the bacterial strain Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) which belongs to the M. tuberculosis complex. M. bovis causes bovine TB in cattle and zoonotic TB in people. At the 47th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Liverpool, I met a 35 year old veterinary doctor Jonathan Cranston from UK, who is a survivor of zoonotic TB.

Over 120 organisations call upon governments to protect WHO FCTC from tobacco industry interference

With a week left for inter-governmental meeting of global tobacco treaty (formally called World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control or WHO FCTC), more than 120 civil society organisations from India and several other nations globally have endorsed a letter calling upon the governments (that are Parties to the WHO FCTC) to act against the tobacco industry interference in FCTC. We are reproducing this letter below:

Is it worthwhile to decentralize drug-resistant TB services?

Alice Sagwidza-Tembe, CNS Correspondent, Swaziland
Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) are global challenges. Treatment of both requires prolonged and toxic therapies. Centralised inpatient treatment, delivered by specialist doctors and nurses in a specialised hospital, is still a common practice in many MDR-TB high-burden countries.

"I felt like a prisoner in the paediatric ward…"

Alice Tembe, CNS Correspondent, Swaziland
Eleanor Frame
…So said Eleanor Frame, an 18 year old teenager from UK, who survived TB. Eleanor shared her story at the 47th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Liverpool. She said that she had no idea about what TB was, and nether did her classmates, until she herself was diagnosed with it at the age of 14.

New initiative seeks to coalese cancer organizations on tobacco tax

Henry Neondo, CNS Correspondent, Kenya
A group of international cancer organizations today launched a new initiative to encourage governments to increase taxes on tobacco. Tobacco causes 20 percent of all cancer deaths and more than 4,000 people die from tobacco-related cancer each day.

[Podcast] Ending TB warrants integrated responses beyond Ministries of Health: Dr Mario Raviglione


Dr Mario Raviglione, Director of the Global Tuberculosis Programme at the World Health Organization (WHO) was in conversation with CNS Managing Editor Shobha Shukla at the sidelines of 47th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Liverpool, UK. This interview is part of CNS Inspire series. [To listen or download the podcast, click here]

Transforming hope into reality for patients of drug-resistant TB

Shobha Shukla, Citizen News Service - CNS
Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) remains a public health crisis. As per WHO’s Global TB Report 2016, 480,000 people fell ill with MDR-TB in 2015, with 3 countries - India, China, and Russia - carrying the major burden and together accounting for nearly half of all MDR-TB cases globally.

Health ministers commit to reverse the tide of lung diseases and NCDs

Shobha Shukla, Citizen News Service - CNS
The first press meet at the 47th Union World Conference on Lung Health, being currently held in Liverpool, saw the Ministers of Health from Philippines, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe reflect on the successes and challenges of responding to the global epidemic of TB, tobacco related diseases and Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

Great strides in MDR-TB treatment

Alice Tembe, CNS Correspondent, Swaziland
Final results of a potentially game-changing study on a nine-months treatment regimen for multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) were announced at the 47th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Liverpool, UK. This study  carried out in nine Francophone countries has shown a treatment success rate of 82% with limited adverse side effects - a significant stride towards stopping TB.

Without community participation we cannot end TB

Shobha Shukla, Citizen News Service - CNS
Community focus was the overriding theme at the Annual TB Alliance Stakeholders Association Meeting held in Liverpool, just ahead of the 47th Union World Conference on Lung Health. Community representatives, Maurine Murenga and Sarah Mulera, shared their experiences from the ground, regarding the powerful, yet under utilised, role which affected and key populations can play to turn the tide against TB.

"Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies"

Shobha Shukla - CNS (Citizen News Service)
[Watch this video interview] [Listen or download this audio podcast]
"Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies" are the immortal words of Saint Mother Teresa, which sum up what Dr Kuldeep Singh Sachdeva asserts to hasten the pace of progress for a disease-free India. Dr KS Sachdeva has healed thousands of patients in a tertiary level hospital in India’s capital Delhi, has served an illustrious inning at India's national tuberculosis programme and is  now serving as Deputy Director General at the national AIDS programme in India.

Countries to set stage for widespread legal action against tobacco industry

Aarti Dhar, CNS Correspondent, India
[First published in India Saga on 20th October 2016]
Representatives of close to 179 countries will meet next month for the seventh session of the Conference of the Parties of the global tobacco treaty to take some of the most powerful steps in tobacco control since the World Health Organization treaty’s adoption. At the Conference, to be held at Greater Noida near India’s National Capital New Delhi from November 7 to 12, countries will advance a provision to hold the tobacco industry civilly and criminally liable for its abuses.