French version of The Union website launched
The redesigned and updated version of The Union website is now online in French. This translation project was underwritten by the Agence Française de Développement. French is one of the three official languages of The Union, along with English and Spanish. To visit the French website, please go to www.theunion.org and click on the French flag.

New Union Services website launched
This month The Union launched a new data management system, Union Services. This system is the new entry point for Membership services and Conference services such as conference registration. In the near future, abstract submission, as well as course enrolment and Journal subscriptions will also be possible on this web site.

Registrations for the 2009 World Conference are now handled through Union Services. You can register to the World Conference by clicking here.

To join The Union as a new member, please click here.
If you are already a member, you will need to create a new user account with Union Services. You can do this by using your e-mail address or membership number. Forgotten your membership number? Contact us at membership@theunion.org.
You will then be able to create and update your Union user account, and renew your membership via secure online payment.

Join or renew today! As an active Union member, you will receive a 50-euro discount on your registration fees for The Union World Conference on Lung Health.

Registration opens for the 40th World Conference to be held in Cancún, Mexico
Registration is now open for the 40th Union World Conference on Lung Health to be held on 3–7 December at the Cancún Center in Cancún, Mexico. To register as a delegate, please go to the conference website at www.worldlunghealth.org. Online hotel bookings will be available shortly.

The conference will include a daylong Stop TB Symposium organised by the World Health Organization (3 December); 11 postgraduate courses and 14 workshops (4 December); and 56 symposia, 50 sessions based on abstracts and 3 plenary sessions (5–7 December). For an outline of the conference sessions, please visit www.worldlunghealth.org.

Important upcoming dates:
24 July: Deadline for submitting abstracts for The Union/CDC late-breaker session
28 August: Early-bird registration closes
18 September: Application deadline for The Union Awards
23 October: Deadline for submitting Christmas Seals to the annual contest

If you have questions, please write to cancun2009@theunion.org

Application period for Union Awards begins
Applications are now being accepted for the Union Scientific Award and the Karel Styblo Public Health Prize. Both will be awarded at the opening ceremony of the 40th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Cancun, Mexico on 4 December 2009. New guidelines and application forms are now available on The Union website. The deadline for receiving applications is Friday, 18 September.

Enter your 2009 Christmas/TB Seals in our annual contest
Fully paid-up constituent and organisational members are invited to enter the annual Christmas Seals exhibit and contest held at the World Conference. Submitted seals are exhibited in The Union Village during the conference and members vote for their favourites at the General Assembly. Please click here for submission guidelines. The deadline for submitting your seals is Friday, 23 October.

Dominique Lagarde appointed Clinical Trial Coordinator
Dr Dominique Lagarde was appointed the new Clinical Trial Coordinator in June. She will head The Union’s Clinical Trial Unit, working on the ANRS Phase 2 pharmacokinetic studies of HIV-infected TB patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and rifabutin that are being conducted in South Africa and Viet Nam. She will be based at The Union’s Paris headquarters. Dr Lagarde holds a PhD in toxicology from the University of Paris and has worked in laboratory and clinical research for more than 20 years. She comes to The Union from a senior Clinical Research Management position with Laboratoire Organon, France. Read more. . .

The Clinical Trial Unit is part of the new Department of Research headed by Prof Anthony D Harries. Learn more about the Department of Research.

Operational research training programmes launched
To inspire more people to take up this practical approach, The Union has developed an Operational Research Fellows programme, a half-day symposium that will be presented at several conferences and a new three-module course. The latter was developed and will be taught in collaboration with Médecins Sans Frontières.
Read more. . .

Working Group provides resources on oxygen systems for limited-resource settings
Hypoxaemia is the most common fatal complication of pneumonia in children and adults, and is common in other respiratory conditions such as asthma. Each year between 1.5 and 2.7 million children are hospitalised with pneumonia that is complicated by hypoxaemia. Studies have shown, however, that by using pulse oximetry to detect hypoxaemia and having reliable oxygen sources, district and provincial-level hospitals can reduce pneumonia death rates substantially, by up to 35%.

Although pulse oximetry has been used in affluent nations for two decades as an accurate measure of hypoxaemia, it has not been widely adopted in developing countries. Further, many health facilities in regions where pneumonia deaths are common do not have the necessary equipment required to provide oxygen therapy to hypoxaemic patients. To advance the use of life-saving oxygen equipment, the Oxygen Systems Working Group of The Union’s Lung Health Scientific Section has compiled free resources and relevant information for colleagues throughout the world. Read more....

International TB Course to be offered in November
The Union’s International Tuberculosis Course has trained more than 1,000 national tuberculosis programme leaders since it was first held in 1991. This 3-week course covers the bacteriological, clinical, epidemiological and other aspects of TB control.
The upcoming session will be in Arusha, Tanzania from 9-27 November 2009. For details, please visit The Union’s Technical Courses website.
Application deadline is 15 August 2009.

TBCAP partners in DRC evaluate their progress
The challenges of expanding access to DOTS and improving tuberculosis detection and treatment success in the Democratic Republic of Congo are extensive. Problems include irregular drug supplies; lack of access to health care facilities, due to the poverty; MDR-TB and TB-HIV case management; and patient awareness.

In early June, The Union organised a two-day meeting in Kinshasa in its role as coordinating partner for the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Tuberculosis Control Assistance Program (TBCAP). The purpose was to evaluate progress and plan the final year of TBCAP. Read more. . .

Latin America Office provides training, legal and technical assistance
The Union Latin America Office (ULA) in Mexico City offers support to governments and agencies working to pass and implement tobacco control legislation, provides education and capacity building workshops and gives technical support to Bloomberg Initiative grantees in the region. Union staff members have been active recently in Mexico, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Brazil and Chile. They participated in the regional meeting for the World Health Organization’s INB-3 on illicit trade in Mexico City and in the INB-3 protocol meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. Read more. . .

Smoke-free policies workshop held in Cairo
The Union Middle East Office (UME) in Cairo conducted its first technical course on tobacco control policies on 23–25 June. The workshop titled Smoke-free Policies was prepared and conducted in partnership with the World Health Organization, its regional office EMRO and the Egypt country office.
The workshop is a regional training for participants from the Ministries of Health, legal drafters and civil society of both Egypt and Lebanon. Its goal is to enhance capacity in strategic planning among those involved in promoting, implementing and evaluating smoke-free legislation.
The UME held this workshop in response to and in support of the smoke-free cities initiative in the Middle East region in order to build capacity in planning and implementing smoke-free policies.

HR course for tobacco control organisations
A 5-day course on human resource management for tobacco control organisations was held on 15–19 June in Bangalore, India. It was attended by 25 intermediate and senior-level professionals from government and civil society organisations in India and Bangladesh who are working on various tobacco control initiatives. This course was designed to help grantees in the Bloomberg Initiative grants programme and others working in tobacco control to develop human resources programmes that meet the needs of the various tobacco control initiatives they are undertaking.

Media and medical professionals learn about tobacco control and pictorial warnings
A meeting held in Lucknow, India on World No Tobacco Day (31 May) brought together editors and publishers from the general media to learn about developments in tobacco control, especially the pictorial warnings on tobacco products that became mandatory in India on 1 June 2009. The goal was also to motivate participants from the district to sustain their efforts to report on tobacco control issues. Thirty-two leading editors and publishers attended the meeting. A networking lunch followed for several journalists and the editors.
Following the lunch meeting, the journalists accompanied The Union’s Pranay Lal to a meeting with Gayatri Parivar Manch, a local grassroots NGO in Etawah. This group is working against chewing tobacco use in Kanpur and Etawah. Finally, a tea meeting with 40 doctors of the Kanpur and Etawah chapters of the Indian Medical Association took place at Etawah City Hospital. Mr Lal updated them about the laws and initiatives to protect people from tobacco-related disease and why doctors need to support tobacco control locally and nationally.

More than 530 delegates attend 17th Union Africa Region Conference
The 17th Union Africa Region Conference on 24-26 June in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso attracted the participation of more than 530 delegates from 33 countries. Under the very high patronage of His Excellency Blaise Compaoré, President of Faso, and the Chairmanship of Seydou Bouda, Minister of Health, the conference offered three days of well-attended sessions and, according to participants, a rich scientific content. Read more. . .

2nd Conference of The Union Asia-Pacific Region, 9-12 September 2009
Beijing,China
“Prevention and Control of Multidrug-resistant Tuberculosis”

Registration is now open. You can register through a secure online payment system. For more information about the scientific programme, please visit: http://www.bjtheunion-apr.com.

FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT: 14th Union North America Region Conference in 2010
“Under One Sun: Looking Ahead, Working Together, Moving Forward”
11-13 March 2010
Orlando, Florida

Orlando, Florida will be the site of the 14th Union North America Region Conference on 11-13 March 2010 in the United States. The deadline for submitting abstracts or applying for travel grants is 2 October 2009. Mark your calendar!
For more information on the conference, please click here.

Budgeting and Project Management for TB Control
Comprehensive budgeting and sound financial management are cornerstones of an effective TB programme. Knowledge how to develop, manage and update budgets is essential. To help health care managers meet these challenges, The Union will host a special, two-week course on Budget Planning and Project Management for TB Control on 1–13 September 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand. The application deadline is 31 July 2009.
For a detailed description and application form, please click here.

International Tuberculosis Course
9–27 November 2009
Arusha, Tanzania
Application deadline: 15 August 2009
Language: English
Max. no. of participants: 25
For more information, please click here.
If you have questions, please write to tb-lunghealth-courses@theunion.org.

Record 1.
TI: Low-income countries: where are we going with TB-HIV in 2009? [Editorial]
AU: Mwinga, Alwyn
URL: Click here to access the article

Record 2.
TI: Scaling up tuberculosis culture services: a precautionary note [Counterpoint]
AU: Urbanczik, R.; Rieder, H.L. URL: Click here to access the article

Record 3.
TI: Registering initial defaulters and reporting on their treatment outcomes [Unresolved issues]
AU: Harries, A.D.; Rusen, I.D.; Chiang, C-Y.; Hinderaker, S.G.; Enarson, D.A.
URL: Click here to access the article

Record 4.
TI: Health systems that serve: whats the bottom line? [The Eero Tala Lecture]
AU: Enarson, D.A.; Rusen, I.D.; Chiang, C-Y.; Harries, A.D.; Billo, N.E.
URL: Click here to access the article

Record 5.
TI: Rifapentine vs. rifampicin for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis: a systematic review [Review article]
AU: Gao, X-F.; Li, J.; Yang, Z-W.; Li, Y-P.
URL: Click here to access the article

Record 6.
TI: Interferon-gamma release assays in immigrant contacts and effect of remote exposure to Mycobacterium tuberculosis
AU: Kik, S.V.; Franken, W.P.J.; Arend, S.M.; Mensen, M.; Cobelens, F.G.J.; Kamphorst, M.; van Dissel, J.T.; Borgdorff, M.W.; Verver, S.
URL: Click here to access the article

Record 7.
TI: Factors associated with positive tuberculin skin test results among HIV-infected persons in Orel Oblast, Russia
AU: Vitek, E.; Gusseinova, N.; Laricheva, N.; Vasiliev, S.; Molotilov, V.; Sofronova, R.; Kazionny, B.; Cegielski, P.; Nguyen, M.L.; Nelson, L.; Agerton, T.; Wells, C.
URL: Click here to access the article

Record 8.
TI: Comparison of Lumin LED fluorescent attachment, fluorescent microscopy and Ziehl-Neelsen for AFB diagnosis
AU: Trusov, A.; Bumgarner, R.; Valijev, R.; Chestnova, R.; Talevski, S.; Vragoterova, C.; Neeley, E.S.
URL: Click here to access the article

Record 9.
TI: Two vs. three sputum samples for microscopic detection of tuberculosis in a high HIV prevalence population
AU: Noeske, J.; Dopico, E.; Torrea, G.; Wang, H.; Van Deun, A.
URL: Click here to access the article

Record 10.
TI: Evaluation of a multi-antigen test based on B-cell epitope peptides for the serodiagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis
AU: Baassi, L.; Sadki, K.; Seghrouchni, F.; Contini, S.; Cherki, W.; Nagelkerke, N.; Benjouad, A.; Saltini, C.; Colizzi, V.; El Aouad, R.; Amicosante, M.
URL: Click here to access the article

Record 11.
TI: Improved early results for patients with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis and HIV in South Africa
AU: ODonnell, M.R.; Padayatchi, N.; Master, I.; Osburn, G.; Horsburgh, C.R.
URL: Click here to access the article

Record 12.
TI: HAART and risk of tuberculosis in HIV-infected South African children: a multi-site retrospective cohort
AU: Martinson, N.A.; Moultrie, H.; van Niekerk, R.; Barry, G.; Coovadia, A.; Cotton, M.; Violari, A.; Gray, G.E.; Chaisson, R.E.; McIntyre, J.A.; Meyers, T.
URL: Click here to access the article

Record 13.
TI: High prevalence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and disease in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus
AU: Webb, E.A.; Hesseling, A.C.; Schaaf, H.S.; Gie, R.P.; Lombard, C.J.; Spitaels, A.; Delport, S.; Marais, B.J.; Donald, K.; Hindmarsh, P.; Beyers, N.
URL: Click here to access the article

Record 14.
TI: Management of life-threatening haemoptysis in an area of high tuberculosis incidence
AU: Gross, A.M.; Diacon, A.H.; van den Heuvel, M.M.; van Rensburg, J.; Harris, D.; Bolliger, C.T.
URL: Click here to access the article

Record 15.
TI: Management and treatment outcomes of tuberculous patients, eastern Paris, France, 2004
AU: Valin, N.; Hejblum, G.; Borget, I.; Mallet, H.P.; Antoun, F.; Che, D.; Chouaid, C.
URL: Click here to access the article

Record 16.
TI: Tuberculosis services and treatment outcomes in private and public health care facilities in Thailand, 20042006
AU: Chengsorn, N.; Bloss, E.; Anekvorapong, R.; Anuwatnonthakate, A.; Wattanaamornkiat, W.; Komsakorn, S.; Moolphate, S.; Limsomboon, P.; Kaewsa-ard, S.; Nateniyom, S.; Kanphukiew, A.; Varma, J.K.
URL: Click here to access the article

Record 17.
TI: Factors influencing tuberculosis management in rural south-west Kenya
AU: Mochache, L.N.; Nyamongo, I.K.
URL: Click here to access the article

Record 18.
TI: The Beijing genotype is associated with young age and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in rural Vietnam
AU: Buu, T.N.; Huyen, M.N.; Lan, N.T.N.; Quy, H.T.; Hen, N.V.; Zignol, M.; Borgdorff, M.W.; Cobelens, F.G.J.; van Soolingen, D.
URL: Click here to access the article

Record 19.
TI: Radiometric vs. agar proportion methods for assessing ethionamide resistance and its clinical effects in multidrug-resistant tuberculosis AU: Cimen, N.O.; Arslan, Z.; Saygi, A.; Ocak, K.; Babacan, F.; Kurutepe, M.
URL: Click here to access the article

Record 20.
TI: Rapid, accurate determination of multidrug resistance in M. tuberculosis isolates and sputum using a biochip system
AU: Guo, Y.; Zhou, Y.; Wang, C.; Zhu, L.; Wang, S.; Li, Q.; Jiang, G.; Zhao, B.; Huang, H.; Yu, H.; Xing, W.; Mitchelson, K.; Cheng, J.; Zhao, Y.
URL: Click here to access the article

Record 21.
TI: Exacerbation of latent genital tuberculosis during in vitro fertilisation and pregnancy [Correspondence]
AU: Hai-jun, Huang; Dai-rong, Xiang; Ji-Fang, Sheng
URL: Click here to access the article

Record 22.
TI: Erratum
URL: Click here to access the article