CNS: Union 2013

Showing posts with label Union 2013. Show all posts

Childhood TB: Do we really know how big the problem is?

Bobby Ramakant - CNS
Despite significant momentum to responding to childhood TB in 2013 with launch of first-ever roadmap, are we groping in the dark with very little data on TB in children? Charalambos Sismanidis, a noted expert who was speaking at the 44th Union World Conference on Lung Health, said that childhood TB data was first reported by countries to the WHO in 2012 but this is not enough. There are gaps in surveillance system as childhood TB does get under-reported (and under-diagnosed).

The air around us has been riddled with so much of dirt that it is increasingly becoming unfit for consumption. And yet we cannot survive if we do not breathe. The theme of the 44th Union World Conference on Lung Health organised by the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) held recently in Paris was very apt - 'Shared air, safe air?'

At the close of the 44th Union World Conference on Lung Health, held in Paris, the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) announced that it has received US $48 million in new funds for TB control in some of the world’s hardest-hit countries and to continue critical areas of operational research. The Global Fund pumped in US $40.05 million for the Union’s TB control activities in India (Project Axshya) and Myanmar (PICTS); while the USAID renewed funding of US $8.30 million for the TREAT TB initiative of the Union. The two together amount to a funding of US $48 million.

The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) issued a position statement at the 44th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Paris, warning about the potential health impact of e-cigarettes (ECs) and electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). The statement which was developed by a panel of health experts, based upon a comprehensive review of all the available scientific evidence on the use of ECs and ENDS, calls for urgent regulation of these products.

There is evidence of an important association between diabetes mellitus (DM) and tuberculosis (TB). DM increases the risk of active tuberculosis by a factor of 2 to 3. Also people with TB, who have diabetes, have been found to have worse TB treatment outcomes. The WHO - The Union (The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease) Framework for Collaborative Activities recommends bilateral screening for TB and Diabetes -- screening for active tuberculosis in patients with diabetes and for diabetes in patients with TB in order to make earlier diagnoses, which in turn may lead to better treatment outcomes and control of both diseases.

Shobha Shukla - CNS
According to the World Health Organization’s Global Tuberculosis Report 2013, India has the highest incidence of TB in the world, with 2.2 million new TB cases annually which amount to 18% of the global TB burden and 66% of that in South East Asia. India also has 31% of the global total of missed cases of 3 million. In addition, out of the 22 high-burden countries, India saw the greatest increase in multidrug-resistant (MDR-TB) between 2011 and 2012. There were an estimated 64000 cases of MDR-TB in 2012, over 25% (16588) of which were diagnosed with the disease and 14143 were put on treatment.

There is no doubt that investment and thrust for more effective new diagnostic and treatment tools for tuberculosis (TB) must go up but alongside it is equally imperative to optimally use existing technologies. "Innovation has the ability to change the world. Innovative approaches lead us to concrete outcomes as opposed to knowledge for knowledge sake. We need new ways of doing things. It is trying to solve a problem as opposed to generate new knowledge [by doing research]" said Dr Mel Spigelman, President and CEO of Global Alliance of TB Drug Development (TB Alliance) at the 44th Union World Conference on Lung Health. "We do not optimally use all the resources we have currently."

World Pneumonia Day: 12 November 2013
Pneumonia is the single largest cause of death in children worldwide. Every year, it kills an estimated 1.2 million children under the age of five years, accounting for 18% of all deaths of children under five years old worldwide. Pneumonia affects children and families everywhere, but is most prevalent in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Dr Stephen M Graham of International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) said at the 44th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Paris that children can be protected from pneumonia – it can be prevented with simple interventions, and treated with low-cost, low-tech medication and care. An alarming number of deaths due to childhood pneumonia continue to take place in countries such as India and China.

Shobha Shukla - CNS
While the number of people detected with MDR-TB increased to 94,000 globally in 2012 (by more than 40%) this amounts to less than 20% of those actually estimated to have MDR-TB. Even amongst the lucky few who did get diagnosed, almost 17, 000 of them could not be put on treatment for a variety of reasons: lack of political commitment, inadequate financing, bottlenecks in uninterrupted drug supply, human resource shortage - to name a few. Failure to test and treat all those with MDR-TB not only has grave consequences for those affected but also poses serious public health risks.

Shobha Shukla - CNS
According to the recently released WHO Global TB Report 2013, 450,000 people fell ill with multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and 170,000 died from the disease in 2012 alone. China, India and the Russian Federation have the highest burden of MDR-TB followed by 24 other countries. Although the number of people detected worldwide with rapid diagnostic tests increased to 94,000 in 2012, three out of four (75%) MDR-TB cases still remain without a diagnosis. Also, just over 77,000 (82%) of these 94,000 people with MDR-TB were started on second-line treatment in 2012.

Citizen News Service (CNS) will facilitate a small team of correspondents to provide issue-based and thematic coverage from the forthcoming 44th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Paris, France. To get CNS conference reporting from the 44th Union World Conference on Lung Health, please join the Global Stop-TB eForum or follow us on Twitter (@bobbyramakant, #LungHealth) or on Facebook or visit us online. If you are attending this Union conference, please be welcome to get interviewed by one of CNS correspondents. To coordinate, please email CNS Managing Editor Shobha Shukla.

Globally around 300 million people suffer from asthma, yet for many of them living in low- and middle-income countries access to quality-assured, affordable asthma essential medicines still remains a distant dream. This was revealed in a study conducted by Dr Zaheer Babar from the School of Pharmacy at the University of Auckland and Dr Karen Bissell from the University’s School of Population Health and International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), and published in the journal PharmacoEconomics.

Personal Stories of Women and Transgender with TB/ MDR-TB/ TB-HIV

Personal stories of women and transgender with TB/ MDR TB/ TB-HIV

Voices From The Field: Need to make TB programmes gender sensitive

Voices from the field: Need to make TB programmes gender sensitive

Children: The Innocent Victims Of Adult Follies

Shobha Shukla - CNS
It is estimated there are more than 5 million people sick with multi drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) in the world today, which afflicts approximately 440,000 people each year, including children. Likewise, 35.3 million people are living with HIV out of which 3.3 million are children. Most of these children acquire the virus from their HIV-infected mothers during pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding, while poverty, weak immune systems, malnourishment, HIV, and maternal TB make children more vulnerable to getting TB from infected adults. 74, 000 children succumb to TB every year while AIDS related paediatric deaths are 230,000.