Prof Asma El Sony of Sudan received a standing ovation at the General Assembly and special thanks at her final meeting of The Union Board of Directors on Sunday, 30 October 2011 in Lille. She has stepped down from the Board after 12 years of service.
Prof El Sony was first elected to the Board as an Individual Member in September 1999. She was elected Vice President in 2000 and held that position until 2003, when she became President. She led The Union as President from 2003 to 2007, and since then has served as Past President.
During these years, The Union was evaluated, a strategic plan developed, the move towards greater involvement in other lung/public health issues was initiated and the goal of establishing an Interregional Council became a reality.
Most important The Union grew from an organisation with one office in Paris and revenue of 15.7 million euros to one with 14 offices worldwide and revenue of 43.9 million euros (FY10).
"For more than a decade, Prof Asma El Sony has been a driving force to advance and expand The Union's portfolio from TB control to other areas of public health importance. She has been able to pilot test many Union policies in Sudan and contribute to their refinement and successful implementation. She has been also a very strong advocate for The Union's values", said Dr Nils Billo, Executive Director of The Union.
Prof El Sony was born and raised in Sudan. After six years of medical training, she worked in a number of hospitals in Sudan and United Kingdom. When she returned to Sudan, she taught for four years in the Department of Medicine at Juba University, then joined the Federal Ministry of Health as a chest physician and served at the Central Unit of the national TB programme. This Central Unit team together with State Coordinators and other health personnel launched a successful National Tuberculosis Programme for Sudan that eventually expanded to provide the Directly Observed Treatment—Short Course (DOTS) strategy to the whole country.
Based on her successful experience with TB control, Prof El Sony has been involved in providing technical assistance to national tuberculosis control programmes in a number of countries and has participated in presenting courses on the scientific bases of TB control. She has been Director of the Epidemiology Laboratory (Epi-Lab) in Khartoum since 2005, where she has collaborated with The Union and other partners on projects ranging from smoking cessation for TB patients to standardised management of child pneumonia and an asthma management pilot project in Gezira State.
The author of numerous books and articles, Prof El Sony has also served as a consultant for the World Health Organization, the Global Fund among other organizations in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East.