A key group within the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) announced the establishment of a scholarship for students of drug-resistant TB at The Union World Conference on Lung Health 2024.
The Union's Drug-Resistant TB Working Group announced the creation of the Armand Van Deun scholarship for the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) in Antwerp's Short Course on Clinical Decision-Making for Drug-Resistant TB, in memory of committed public health physician Armand Van Deun.
Armand, a former long-term Union member, pioneered the first short, highly effective, and inexpensive regimen for treating multidrug-resistant TB. The regimen was suitable and designed for usage in settings without the capacity for drug susceptibility testing.
During the Union Conference closing session, Keren Middelkoop, Vice President of The Union, said: “The scholarship is a fitting tribute to Armand Van Deun’s commitment to public health.”
Armand also established ITM's international Short Course on Clinical Decision-Making for Drug-Resistant TB, attended by students globally. The new scholarship will support students from lower- and middle-income countries to attend the course.
The course requires participants to complete three parts: firstly, to define issues around drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) in their national setting; secondly, to assess the harm and benefit of clinical decisions in the field of DR-TB diagnosis and treatment; and thirdly, to make an evidence-based recommendation around the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of DR-TB in their national setting.