The Union World Conference on Lung Health is the largest and most influential gathering of stakeholders in the fight against tuberculosis, and this year, the customary lively week of discussion and debate will kick off a few days early with the launch of World Health Organization’s 2014 Global TB Report on Wednesday, 22 October, in Geneva. This 20th report tracking TB around the world will provide the latest information on the epidemic, national responses, treatment updates, trends and financing data.
Armed with this fresh data, on Monday, 27 October, parliamentarians from nine developed and developing countries will gather in Barcelona for the first Global TB Summit. This meeting organised by The Union and the UK’s All Party Parliamentary Group on Global TB will provide a forum to discuss research and development of medicines, diagnostics and vaccines. The Summit will be opened by José Luis Castro, Executive Director of The Union, and the Honourable Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, Minister of Health for South Africa.
The annual Global TB Symposium, organised each year by WHO, will invite conference delegates to “move out of the box” and end the global TB epidemic. The day-long symposium will outline WHO’s ambitious Post-2015 Global TB Strategy which aims for a 95% decrease in TB deaths by 2035. (Tue, 28 Oct, 09:00-18:00, Room 111).
Other sessions throughout the week will explore not only these themes but important synergies that will influence the potential to reach these public health goals. The conference theme of “Community-Driven Solutions for the Next Generation” stresses the need for a collaborative relationship between health systems and the communities they serve. Sessions will focus on the impact of advocacy activities, including a plenary panel discussion with four activists (Sat, 1 Nov, 11:30-12:30, Room 112) and the launch of a new Global Asthma Report (Thu, 30 Oct, 13:00-15:00, Room 128).
Other highlights show the range of issues to be discussed, for example:
Cured: A Celebration of Life after MDR- and XDR-TB: an exhibition of photos and stories, featuring former patients from Latin America and Spain, whose lives were documented by photographer Javier Galeano. (Tue, 28 Oct–Sat, 1 Nov, Main Hall).
The Looming Co-Epidemic of TB-Diabetes: A Call to Action, a new report launched by The Union and World Diabetes Foundation (Wed, 29 Oct, 10:45-11:45, Room M14).
A side session on Ebola with a briefing on the disease and the status of the epidemic in West Africa, followed by discussion (Thu, 30 Oct, 18:45–19:45, Room 111).
Complete details about the 5-day scientific programme and related events may be found in the conference programme at www.worldlunghealth.org