Highlights from the 2024 Union World Conference on Lung Health
29 November 2024
The 2024 Union World Conference on Lung Health took place on 12-16 November 2024 in Bali, Indonesia. The Union World Conference on Lung Health, convened annually by the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), is the world’s largest gathering of clinicians and public health workers, health program managers, policymakers, researchers, affected communities and advocates working to end the suffering caused by lung disease, with a focus specifically on the challenges faced by low- and lower-middle income populations.
The official press statements, released by The Union giving an overview of a number of important scientific studies presented at the Conference, can be accessed below:
- Union Conference 2024: Active Case Finding Promises to Improve TB Detection in South-East Asia
- Union Conference 2024: New Research Suggests Alternative Regimens Against Extensively-Drug Resistant TB
- Union Conference 2024: Versatile Technology Driving TB Elimination Efforts Across Africa Through Active Case Finding
- Union Conference 2024: Results From VQUIN, TBCHAMP and CATALYST Trials Shed New Light on Safety and Adherence of Treatment Regimes for Children and Adults With Multidrug-Resistant TB
The official press conference took place on 14 November, and included the following panellists:
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- Dr Cassandra Kelly-Cirino, Executive Director of The Union (Chair)
- Dr. Antonia Morita Saktiawati, Universitas Gadjah Mada, discussed the potential of an AI-powered electronic ‘nose’ as a TB screening tool for high-burden countries
- Dr. Lorenzo Guglielmetti, Medecins Sans Frontieres, shared the interim results from endTB-Q – a randomised controlled trial testing a shorter treatment strategy for pre-extensively drug-resistant TB
- Professor Simon Schaaf, Stellenbosch University, discussing the safety of bedaquiline in infants, children and adolescents with rifampin-resistant TB
- Erman Varella, Stop TB Partnership Indonesia, shared his personal experience of living with HIV and being diagnosed with TB. He has since been cured of TB, but has lost several friends and relatives pass away from the disease
- Professor Guy B. Marks, President of The Union, leading respiratory and public health physician, and epidemiologist
For more highlights from the 2024 Union World Conference on Lung Health, check out the Union Conference special edition of the TB CAB Weekly Newsletter here.
