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• 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…

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…

• 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…

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.

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

• 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 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.

• 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…

• 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,…

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.

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,…

• 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 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.

  …

• The Union’s headquarters in Paris is the global cornerstone of the organisation, taking on a coordinating role, sets policy and provides financial oversight of the organisation. The Union Switzerland Office, based in Geneva, acts as the political convenor for The Union,…

• The Union is divided into seven regions to provide a platform for addressing lung health and related issues from a regional perspective. This structure offers members opportunities to network with colleagues who face the same regional challenges and contributes to The Union's…

• Members in Europe initiated the first dedicated region Scientific Track, held at the Union World Conference on Lung Health. The sessions, developed in partnership with members of The Union’s Europe Region, shared experiences and challenges that are specific to the continent…

• The Union South-East Asia Office was The Union’s first region office, located in India. The Union Office in Myanmar located in Mandalay provides HIV and TB-HIV programmes.

• The Union is divided into seven regions to provide a platform for addressing lung health and related issues from a regional perspective. This structure offers members opportunities to network with colleagues who face the same regional challenges and contributes to The Union's…

• The Union is divided into seven regions to provide a platform for addressing lung health and related issues from a regional perspective. This structure offers members opportunities to network with colleagues who face the same regional challenges and contributes to The Union's…

• The 19th Conference of The Union Latin America Region, took place during the Congress of the Asociación Latinoamericana de Tórax, in Panama, bringing together clinicians, researchers, health care professionals, politicians, the media and people affected by tuberculosis (…

• The Union is divided into seven regions to provide a platform for addressing lung health and related issues from a regional perspective. This structure offers members opportunities to network with colleagues who face the same regional challenges and contributes to The Union's…

• The 29th Conference of The Union Middle East Region, in conjunction with the 59th International Congress of the Egyptian Society of Chest Diseases and Tuberculosis, assembled a broad coalition of lung health experts in Cairo with over 1000 participants.

  Organised by…

• The Union is divided into seven regions to provide a platform for addressing lung health and related issues from a regional perspective. This structure offers members opportunities to network with colleagues who face the same regional challenges and contributes to The Union's…

• Created in 2023, The American Friends fights for the eradication of tuberculosis and other lung diseases, primarily through support of The Union.

  The charity was established by Union members, including a former President and Board members.

• Held in February 2020, the 24th Annual Conference of The Union North America Region is a three-day scientific conference organised by Union members, which brings together hundred experts of national and international renown to discuss regional perspectives on global…

• Read The Union's most recent Annual Reports, showing the work we have done and the impact we have achieved around the world in recent years.