Hundreds of delegates from across the Asia Pacific region came together last week in Manila, Philippines for a wide range of sessions and symposia, covering TB and other respiratory diseases at the 7th Conference of the Union Asia Pacific Region.
Hundreds of delegates from across the Asia Pacific region came together last week in Manila, Philippines for a wide range of sessions and symposia, covering TB and other respiratory diseases at the 7th Conference of the Union Asia Pacific Region.
The conference opened with an End TB Summit where a panel of professors, clinicians, and health workers from across Asia Pacific participated in a wide-ranging discussion on the global goal to eliminate tuberculosis (TB). Professor Guy Marks, President-Elect of The Union, highlighted the important role of active case finding in the strategic fight to end TB.
The conference theme Unity in Diversity: One Against Tuberculosis and Other Lung Diseases inspired the presentation of a wide variety of TB research, from basic profiles of a wide spectrum of TB populations, to screening, case finding, diagnosis and treatment of TB. There was also a symposium dedicated to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), which looked at the need to tailor customised GOLD (Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease) diagnostic guidelines for resource limited countries, and also whether diagnostic outcomes would be improved through incentivising adherence to the standard guidelines.
Presented during the conference, the SIKAT awards honour leaders in their respective fields who have provided strength, inspiration, knowledge and action for TB. Dr Fe Del Mundo, Dr Fermin Manalo and Dr Renato Dantes, and Dr Mita Pardo de Tavera received awards for their past work. Dr Thelma Tupasi, Dr. Jaime Lagahid and Dr Camilo Roa were all recognised for their current TB work.
The 7th Conference of the Union Asia Pacific Region was hosted by the Philippine Tuberculosis Society, in collaboration with the Philippine Department of Health, the Philippine College of Chest Physicians, CHEST Philippine Delegation, Philippine Pediatrics Society, Philippine Society of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and the Philippine Coalition Against Tuberculosis.
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