The Union's scientific sections and working groups offer members an opportunity to affiliate with others who share the same interests and collaborate on research, publications and projects. One of their principal activities is to propose sessions and contribute to the planning of The Union World Conference on Lung Health, the largest annual conference focusing on lung health issues as they affect low- and middle income populations. They also participate in the governance of The Union through the General Assembly.

 

Scientific Sections

As a member, you will choose one of the following sections and sub-sections (optional) to affiliate with:

• Tuberculosis Section

  Chair:  Richard Zaleskis, Latvia

  Vice Chair : Edward Nardell, USA

  Programme Secretary : Bonita Mangura,USA

  Secretary: Kevin Schwartzman, Canada

  • Nurses & Allied Professionals Sub-Section

                 Chair : Kerrie Anne Shaw, Australia

                 Programme Secretary : Stacie Stender, South Africa

  • Bacteriology & Immunology Sub-Section

                  Chair : Marina Shulgina, Russian Federation

                  Programme Secretary : Thomas Shinnick, USA

  • Zoonotic TB Sub-Section

                  Chair : Alejandro Perera, Mexico

                           Programme Secretary : Francisco Olea- Popelka, USA

 

• Tobacco Control Section

  Chair : Wang Jie, China

  Vice Chair : Xiaolin Wei, Hongkong

  Programme Secretary : E. Vidhubala, India

  Secretary : Ehab Asaad,Egypt

  • Nurses & Allied Professionals Sub-Section

 

• Lung Health Section (consists of adult and child lung health, including childhood TB)

  Chair : Simon Schaaf, South Africa

  Vice Chair : Gregory Erharbor, Nigeria

  Programme Secretary : Anneke Hesseling, South Africa

  Secretary : Andrew Steenhoff,USA

  • Nurses & Allied Professionals Sub-Section

 

• HIV Section

  Chair : Soumya Swaminathan, India

  Vice Chair : Anand Date, USA

  Programme Secretary : Wim Vandevelde, South Africa

  Secretary : Keren Middlekoop, South Africa

  • Nurses & Allied Professionals Sub-Section

 

Working Groups

As a section member, you will also be invited to join up to three working groups. Current working groups include:

 

WORKING GROUP NAME	LEADERS
TB control in prisons	Masoud Dara, Netherlands Sarabjit Chadha, India
TB and migration	Gilles Cesari, Singapore Poonam Dhavan, Philippines
TB infection control	Grigory Volchenkov, Russia Rose Pray, USA Matsie Mphahlele, South Africa
TB social determinants and ethics	Carlton Evans, Peru Delia Boccia, UK
TB laboratory accreditation	Christopher Gilpin, Australia Tom Shinnick, USA Armand Van Deun, Belgium
Best practice for patient care	Gini Williams, UK Inge Schreurs, Netherlands
Regional mobilisation of nurses &   allied professionals	Tiemi Arakawa, Brazil
TB education and training	Allison Maiuri, USA Ahmed Al-Kabir, Bangladesh
Global Indigeneous Stop TB Initiative	Anne Fanning, Canada
COPD in low- and middle - income   countries	Peter Burney, UK
Childhood TB	Anne Detjen, USA James Seddon, UK
Tobacco cessation interventions for   tuberculosis patients	Tara Singh Bam, Nepal
Countering tobacco industry   interference in public health policies	Anne Jones, Australia Matthew Allen, New Zealand
Getting research into tobacco control   policy at regional and country level	Md.Akramul Islam, Bangladesh

 

 

Examples of recent activities

 

• The TB & Migration Working Group developed a statement adopted by The Union Board of Directors as its official statement on TB Care for the Undocumented. It has since been presented at the European Parliament. Norway and the Netherlands have passed regulations in line with its recommendations. Click here to read the statement.

 

• The TB Control in Prisons Working Group assisted in the development of revised International Guidelines on TB Control in Prisons, which were published in 2009. Click here to download the guidelines. In 2012, the working group developed a statement adopted by The Union Board of Directors as its official statement on TB control in prisons. Please click here to read the statement  

 

• The former Oxygen Systems Working Group compiled a list of relevant publications and technical advice on the importance of effective hypoxia management, especially in managing child pneumonia, and technical equipment advice for oxygen delivery systems and hypoxia detection. Click here to access these resources.

 

• The TB Social Determinants and Ethics Working Group invited articles and obtained funding for a supplement on “Ethics and Social Determinants in Tuberculosis Care and Control”, which was published in the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, in a supplement in June 2011.

 

• The Best Practices for Patient Care Working Group developed a guide to the practical aspects of TB patient care for nurses and allied professionals in low-income countries that has now been published in English, French, Spanish and Russian. Click here to download the guide.

 

• The Tobacco cessation interventions for tuberculosis patients Working Group's efforts led to the development of the ABC approach outlined in The Union guide Smoking cessation and smokefree environments for Tuberculosis patients published in 2010. The ABC approach has now been piloted in Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal and South Africa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

To find out more about sections, sub-sections and working groups and how to get involved, please contact us.