Dear Union friends and colleagues,
2015 is a year that all of us in public health have focused on since the beginning of the century – the moment when we would stop and assess our progress towards our joint Millennium Development Goals and set new ones in the agenda laid out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030.
The Union has played an important role in both meeting and setting these global agendas, bringing to the table both our in-depth knowledge and commitment to the fight against tuberculosis and our flexibility to respond to new challenges, such as the emergence of HIV/AIDS, the increase in TB drug resistance, the rise of non-communicable diseases and the tobacco industry’s assault on the health of low- and middle-income countries in its search for ever-expanding markets.
As I look back over this year, I see innovative and critically important work being done in every Union region that is contributing to the transformation of our world outlined in the SDGs.
In Africa, our commitment to finding a shorter, more effective treatment for multidrug-resistant TB is bearing fruit – with initial results from a study in nine francophone countries showing an 83% treatment success rate for a nine-month treatment regimen. Tobacco control work across the region is seeing taxes on tobacco rise and greater resolve to prevent the tobacco industry obstructing life-saving health policies.
In the Asia Pacific, we hosted the first-ever summit to initiate a global action plan for addressing the co-epidemic of diabetes and tuberculosis, which threatens to affect hundreds of millions of people. Members also hosted one of the most ambitious and successful Union region conferences to date.
The Union Europe office continues to be a hub of expertise in tobacco control, helping countries across the globe to establish effective legislation to reduce tobacco use and combat the interference of the tobacco industry in health policies, as outlined in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control [WHO FCTC]. Within Europe, work with the Smoke Free Partnership is supporting eastern European countries to comply with EU directives on tobacco control, including tax increases.
Latin America is another region, where we are deeply committed to the fight for tobacco control. We supported six countries this year with a strong focus on upgrading national legislation to reduce tobacco use, and assisting with the ensuring legal battles instigated by the tobacco industry.
For the first time this year, the Middle East was the setting for the World Conference on Tobacco OR Health, the largest and most influential international meeting of tobacco control stakeholders, for which we are now Permanent Secretariat. The Union Middle East Region also hosted its 28th conference on TB and lung health with 1,500 delegates.
In North America, The Union became a partner in two innovative health initiatives launched by Bloomberg Philanthropies. They focus on road safety – addressing road accidents as a major cause of death – and the collection of data, such as birth and death records, which are essential for understanding the scope of public health issues. The annual conference of The Union North America Region illustrated how, even in low-burden countries, TB can be a devastating problem for groups such as indigenous people and immigrants.
In South-East Asia, the success of The Union’s largest-ever TB control programme, Project Axshya, was demonstrated by its “A” rating from The Global Fund and an extension to continue through 2017. In addition, the nationwide “TB Free India” campaign kicked off in April to unite all stakeholders in the fight against TB. The battle to increase graphic warnings about the impact of tobacco use on all tobacco packs has been ongoing throughout 2015. Nepal has successfully operationalised its 90 per cent law. The process is still ongoing in Pakistan and India.
It has been my privilege and pleasure to visit every one of our regions this year, and I always find seeing The Union at work firsthand tremendously inspiring.
In order to bring some of that special energy to you, no matter where you work or live, we’ve begun a series of videos documenting our extraordinary organisation and its achievements. To view the first video, made in honour of our Centennial Campaign, please click here. It features recent activities in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Mongolia that I think exemplify our Union at its best.
Thank you for the dedication, insight and creativity that you bring to your work every day on behalf of the people we serve around the world. I look forward to joining you in 2016 as we and our many partners move forward to meet the challenges of our new agenda.
Until then, I wish you a joyful holiday season.
Best regards,
José Luis Castro
Executive Director
The Union
Home page photo:
This portrait by photographer Javier Galeano shows Ruby, 28, holding her son during a health visit in the Anna Nagar slum in New Delhi. Ruby has two children. She was on treatment for TB for six months and is now cured. This photo is part of Cured: A celebration of life after tuberculosis, MDR- and XDR-TB, an exhibition which was on display at the 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Cape Town, South Africa, December 2015.