On 30th October 2019, the Vice-President of India gave the opening remarks at the 50th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Hyderabad. This four-day scientific event delves into all aspects of lung health, and it’s the largest meeting of its kind worldwide, attracting notable stakeholders and experts in the field.
‘Ending the Emergency: Science, Leadership, Action’ – The Central Theme
The conference is themed ‘Ending the Emergency: Science, Leadership, Action’, and it aims to highlight the urgency in translating commitments into actions and achieving life-saving targets. While the theme resonates strongly with Tuberculosis (TB), it also underscores the fact that other threats to lung health – air pollution, tobacco, among others – are equally critical emergencies requiring scientific, leadership and action-oriented solutions.
The Significance of India as a Backdrop
India, being the country with the highest burden of TB worldwide, provided a significant backdrop for discussions centering around ending TB and combating lung disease. With ambitious targets set to eradicate TB by 2025, the nation’s challenge paints a vivid picture of the physical, social, and economic impacts of lung health.
Breakthrough: Agreement on a Key Anti-TB Drug
A milestone was reached during the conference when an agreement was made to bring down the price of Rifapentine, a drug vital in the prevention of TB.
| Fact | Description |
|---|---|
| Tuberculosis (TB) | TB is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium Tuberculosis and spreads through the air from people afflicted by TB. One infected person can transmit the disease to ten or more people in a year. |
| TB in India | India is home to 26% of all TB cases reported globally, making TB a significant public health problem. In 2011, out of an estimated global annual incidence of 8.8 million TB cases, nearly 2.3 million were in India. |
| TB Vaccine | The Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine used for TB prevention was developed by Albert Calmette and Camille Guérin in 1921. |
International Union Against Tuberculosis (IUAT)
The IUAT has been organising the Union World Conference on Lung Health since its founding at the post-war conference in Paris, 1920. It received recognition as the first officially acknowledged Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1940. The IUAT plays a pivotal role in global clinical trials to determine effective usage of new tools for TB treatment, and it’s also a co-founder of the TB Surveillance Research Unit.
