2010 YEAR OF THE LUNG

About pulmonary non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infections
There are currently more than 140 NTM species, at least 40 of which are associated with lung infections. In the YOL series article in this month’s IJTLD, Daley and Griffith arm clinicians with information that will help them better understand and combat these difficult to treat infections. Read the article...

TUBERCULOSIS

World Bank approves US$ 63 million for East Africa laboratory network
The World Bank recently approved US$63.66 million for the East Africa Public Health Laboratory Networking Project, which aims to establish an urgently needed network of high-quality public health laboratories. Several partners contributed actively to the design and development of the project, including The Union. Read more. . .

TREAT TB partners’ meeting reviews Year 1
International and regional partners in TREAT TB (Technology, Research, Education and Technical Assistance for Tuberculosis) met in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 24-25 May 2010 to review the first-year achievements and challenges, develop plans for research on diagnostics and MDR-TB and identify key actions for success. TREAT TB is a five-year initiative is funded by USAID. Read more. . .

IJTLD editorial: New initiative speeds TB drug development
The Critical Path to New TB Regimens initiative announced in March 2010 provides a new development paradigm that eliminates the need to build new regimens through successive substitution of novel compounds into approved treatment regimens. According to authors Spigelman et al., such an evolution means that it may be possible to make quantum leaps in the improvement of therapy. Read more . .

RESEARCH

Village registers contribute information on ART effectiveness in Malawi
Most people in Africa are born and die without leaving a trace in any legal record or official statistic. Yet birth and death statistics provide vital health data. In Malawi, Médecins sans Frontières--Brussels has been working with The Union and district authorities to use village registers for reporting deaths. Between 2000 and 2007, data from 210 villages were used to assess the impact of scaling up HIV/AIDS care, including antiretroviral treatment. Read more. . .

TOBACCO CONTROL: WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY

Four Indian juridictions go smokefree
On World No Tobacco Day, the state of Sikkim, the cities of Shimla and Coimbatore and the district of Villupuram all declared public places smokefree. The Union South-East Asia Office supported these successful campaigns, which offer a model for other Indian communities. Read more. . .

China established legal expert network to advance tobacco control
With support from The Union, the China Legal Expert Working Group was establishes in Beijng on 29 May 2010 to provide expert support and advice on legislative drafting from national and provincial tobacco control laws. Read more. . .

The Union supports new Pakistan policy on pictorial warnings
On 31 May, Pakistan introduced compulsory pictorial health warnings on all cigarette packs. The warnings are a significant achievement for the Ministry of Health, which stood firm in face of tobacco industry interference. Read more. . .

HIV

Inaugural course on TB/HIV collaborations held in Malawi
The Union’s Department of HIV held the inaugural session of its new course  “Working Together -- Strengthening the Implementation of Collaborative TB/HIV Activities” from 19-23 2010 in Lilongwe, Malawi. The objective was to improve the country-level implementation of collaborative TB /HIV activities, as measured by achievement against selected key indicators from the Global Plan to Stop TB.  Read more. . .

Renovation of TB/HIV facilities in Uganda completed
As part of the Tuberculosis Control Assistance Program (TB CAP), The Union supported the renovation of three health facilities in western Uganda and one in Kampala to increase space for TB/HIV services and provide a safer environment for patients and health workers. Read more. . .

CHILD LUNG HEALTH

Child pneumonia: WHA resolution brings attention to number one killer of children
For more than a decade, The Union has been fighting for more recognition of the number one killer of children under 5 – pneumonia. On 21 May 2010, the World Health Assembly (WHA) passed a resolution acknowledging that the Millennium Development Goals could not be met without a greater focus on treatment and prevention of this disease that kills more than 1.5 million children each year. Read more. . .