Union Member News: The 5th Conference of The Union Asia Pacific Region opened on Monday, 31 August in Sydney, Australia. More than 700 delegates from the region have gathered for the three-day conference.
The 5th Conference of The Union Asia Pacific Region opened on Monday, 31 August at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, Australia. More than 700 delegates from the Asia Pacific region have gathered for the three-day conference. The focus of the 2015 conference is reducing the burden of tuberculosis and lung disease in the region by creating new regional partnerships and expanding existing collaborations. More than half of the world's nine million new cases recorded each year are in this region.
The Honourable Julie Bishop MP, Minister for Foreign Affairs, officially represented the Honourable Tony Abbott MP, Prime Minister of Australia, to welcome the delegates to the Opening Ceremony on Monday morning. Conference president Dr J Paul Seale, who is also President of the Australian Respiratory Council, welcomed delegates on behalf of the host organisation and The Union.
Dr Mario Raviglione gave the opening plenary this morning, speaking about WHO's new End TB Strategy for the prevention and control of TB and MDR-TB – adoption and adaptation to Asia and the Pacific.
The conference showcases up-to-date information and features many of the Asia Pacific’s leading researchers and clinicians in the area of tuberculosis and lung disease. Speakers include Prof Guy Marks, Vice President of The Union and chair of the Scientific Committee for the conference, Union TB experts Dr Chen-Yuan Chiang and Dr Lin Yan, Union child TB expert Prof Steve Graham, and Union tobacco control experts Dr Gan Quan, Dr Tara Singh Bam and Anne Jones.
The scientific programme includes sessions on topics from TB in vulnerable populations to Why and how to use tobacco taxes as a funding mechanism for health financing, providing opportunities for delegates to hear about new developments, present their work, meet with colleagues and explore new partnerships.
The two-day Asia Pacific Forum of the Global TB Caucus is being held alongside the conference and has brought together parliamentarians from nine countries across the region to consider how to best build regional support for addressing TB.
The conference was organised by the Australian Respiratory Council in collaboration with other constituent, organisational and individual members of The Union Asia Pacific Region.
For complete conference details: http://www.aprunion2015.com/
Learn more about The Union Asia Pacific Region: http://www.theunion.org/where-we-work/asia-pacific