BFF-59 Tuberculosis under spotlight at world conference on lung health

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BFF-59

TUBERCULOSIS-WORLD-HEALTH

Tuberculosis under spotlight at world conference on lung health

THE HAGUE, Oct 24, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – Tuberculosis, a preventable and
curable disease that killed 1.6 million last year across the world, goes
under spotlight of the 49th Union World Conference on Lung Health opened on
Wednesday in The Hague.

The unnecessary millions of deaths each year from TB is a global health
emergency and requires urgent action, said Jose Luis Castro, Executive
Director of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
(The Union), organizer of the conference.

TB now kills more people than HIV/AIDS and is the world’s largest
infectious disease killer. Last year 10 million people fell ill with TB. Of
the 1.6 million people killed by the disease last year, it is estimated that
239,000 were children.

The three-day conference calls for a human rights approach and greater
political commitment to eradicate TB and reduce the global threats of tobacco
use, air pollution and other lung diseases.

The Union World Conference is the world’s largest gathering of clinicians,
policy makers, public health managers, researchers and advocates working to
end the suffering caused by lung disease, with a focus specifically on the
challenges faced by low-and-middle-income countries. Some 4,000 delegates
from over 80 countries are expected to attend.

The conference will look at scientific advances and the obstacles to
developing safe and user-friendly forms of TB prevention and the delivery of
drugs to treat the disease and strategies to address the barriers to making
effective prevention and treatment available to all.

The United Nations held a high-level meeting on TB in New York in
September which ended with a political declaration signed by world leaders
committed to ending TB by 2030.

BSS/XINHUA/FI/ 2330 hrs