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• The Union’s Adult and Child Lung Health Section focusses on the following areas of interest:

  Adult Lung Health: including pneumonia, asthma, COPD, air pollution, occupational lung disease and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) Child Lung Health: Childhood TB, HIV,…

• Most recently, the section collaborated closely with The Union’s Director of Lung Health to create The Union’s Strategic Plan for Lung Health 2020-2025. Two broad themes emerged as priorities: lung health across the life course; and lung health and well-being after TB.…

• This working group conducts research, investigates strategies and raises awareness amongst healthcare workers and policy makers on post-TB lung health. The group played a key role in the first International Post-TB Symposium, which took place at Stellenbosch University, South…

• The Union founded the Global Asthma Network (GAN), and this working group collaborated on the Global Asthma Report 2018. The Lung Health Department will work with the ACLH section to engage with major international guideline/strategy initiatives including the Global…

• Recently, the group reviewed national policies for 38 high burden countries on TB preventive treatment and screening, including among pregnant women living with HIV. They provided technical support to countries considering potential safety of intermittent preventive therapy…

• The Air Pollution and Lung Health Working Group serves as a community of practice sharing information about air pollution, lung health science, policy and advocacy.

  The group launched a clean air advocacy initiative, Inspire: Health Advocates for Clean Air – a…

• Find out more about the benefits of Union membership and join now.

Letter to the editors of the IJTLD describing a significant decline in TB detection during the COVID-19 pandemic in Shanghai – highlighting the need for improved programmes to minimise the impact of any future lockdown on the control of TB.…

In Myanmar, The Union has set up a ‘Wave Money’ platform to transfer financial support to people via mobile phone or through local agents, helping people unable to use automated teller machines.

Our goal is to provide assistance that addresses both national priorities and international standards, policies and objectives.

The Union’s focus is on working hand-in-hand, in partnership with the country.

• Tackling the impact of air pollution to help improve lung health is a strategic goal for The Union’s Department of Lung Health.

  The Union, together with FIRS and partners, has launched Inspire: Health Advocates for Clean Air. Run in conjunction with The Union’s…

In collaboration with the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood, The Union founded the Global Asthma Network (GAN) which published The Global Asthma Report 2018, an 88 page cutting edge State-of-the-Art report, with…

• Child lung health has been a priority for The Union for the past 15 years. In addition to developing a method to improve the care and outcome for children under five years of age with pneumonia, The Union has supported the development of guidelines for management of…

• Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes are now significant factors in two in every three deaths globally. With the prevalence of tobacco usage still very high in many parts of the world, and rising rates of obesity, the burden…

• Tuberculosis (TB) is treatable, curable and preventable. However, life for people cured of TB can include a number of additional challenges, with a range of ongoing potential health problems.

  In response, The Union established the Post Tuberculosis Lung Disorders…

Letter to the editors of the IJTLD which assesses the impact of lockdown (shelter-in-place orders) on TB case notifications.

The Union's Training and Education Department organises online and face-to-face. In 2023, over 4,500 people were trained globally.

• The first international conference on tuberculosis was held in 1867, well before the cause of TB was discovered by Prof Robert Koch in 1882. The Union traces its origins to these gatherings of experts from around the world who were determined to collaborate and find a common…

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  Year

  Location

  President

   

  2025

  Copenhagen Prof Guy Marks  

  2024

  Bali Prof Guy Marks  

  2023

  …

The Union has been organising conferences around the world on lung health and related issues for over a hundred years.

The Union World Conference on Lung Health is the world’s largest gathering of clinicians and public health workers,…

In 2019 and early 2020, The Union convened six international conferences in India, South Africa, Panama, Philippines, the United States of America and Canada, all with the overarching aims of sharing knowledge and best practice.

• When submitting proposals for studies, The Union or Union staff should apply for EAG approval when in any of the following roles:

  Co-author of publication that will result from the study Principal investigator or collaborator Union sponsored or funded

  Please…

• In your application email, please ensure you include the following documents:

  Application form (see below) The study proposal A short CV of the principal investigator Questionnaires, interview forms and details of the investigative procedures or laboratory tests to…

• Applications should be sent to eag@theunion.org

• If you wish to modify or extend a previously approved application, please use this form.

  If the study involves human participants and is not completed within 12 months of EAG approval, please complete this form.

  For any enquiries about this process,…

• Please find the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the Ethics Advisory Group:

  POLICY 1 Approval of Research

  POLICY 2 Assessment of Risk

  POLICY 3 EAG composition

  POLICY 4 Deviation

  POLICY 5 Ongoing review

  POLICY 6 SAE…

• The Union currently has seven offices across the globe. View the contact details below or click on the tiles to find out more about the work each office is undertaking.

• The Young Innovator in TB Research Award was established in 2014 through a global partnership between Otsuka and The Union. The aim of the award was to recognise young scientists who had demonstrated a commitment to advancing innovative thinking in TB research…

• 2016: Dr Manish Pareek (United Kingdom)'s work is based on identifying a clinical or public health issue of importance in tuberculosis - then framing, and answering, a specific research question before translating the solution into public policy. An example of his…

• The Union has played an active role in TB clinical trials since the early 1960s, with goals to:

  initiate and conduct trials of new drugs and/or combined regimens for TB treatment; develop a strong international network of clinical trial centres; and, ensure the…

• The Standardised Treatment Regimen of Anti-TB Drugs for Patients with MDR-TB (STREAM) trial is the world’s first multi-country randomised clinical trial to test the efficacy, safety and economic impact of shortened multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) treatment regimens…

• Stage 1 of the STREAM Trial sought to determine whether a nine-month treatment regimen that demonstrated cure rates exceeding 80 percent during a pilot programme in Bangladesh could achieve similar success in other settings.

  Ethiopia, Mongolia, South Africa and…

• Stage 2 of the STREAM Trial began in 2016 and closed to participant enrolment in January 2020, with a total of 588 participants recruited to all arms of the trial.

  Stage 2 is evaluating the efficacy, safety, and cost of a 9-month all-oral, bedaquiline-containing…

• TREAT TB (Technology, Research, Education and Technical Assistance for Tuberculosis) is an ambitious initiative that was launched by The Union, that seeks to contribute new knowledge regarding shorter, more tolerable treatment regimens for MDR-TB.

Each year, The Union Centre for Operational Research trains over 1,000 participants from around the world, resulting in more than 1,500 papers being published.

• The Ethics Advisory Group (EAG) was established to provide ethical guidance on The Union's work at national and international levels. Its role is to safeguard the dignity and rights of study participants and to promote ethical standards in lung health services.

  …