Citizen News Service (CNS) with support from the Stop TB Partnership provided thematic coverage using 'TB lens' from the 10th IAS Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2019) held in Mexico City, Mexico on 21-24 July 2019.

A dossier prepared by Citizen News Service (CNS, www.citizen-news.org) and Women4GF (www.women4gf.org) in October 2013 before the 44th Union World Conference on Lung Health. It aims to pull out quotes from interviews done with women and transgender with TB, MDR-TB and/or TB-HIV co-infection to underline gender-based inequalities that adversely impact different components of TB care.

A compilation of CNS interviews with women and transgender with tuberculosis (TB), multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) or TB-HIV coinfection in India and Zimbabwe. Prepared by Women4GF (www.women4gf.org) and Citizen News Service (CNS, www.citizen-news.org) in October 2013.

The International Management Development Programme (IMDP) of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) ) has joined hands with the World Health Organization (WHO) TBTEAM network to support health systems strengthening by delivering accredited health management training courses. TBTEAM, the Tuberculosis Technical Assistance Mechanism, whose secretariat is hosted in the WHO Global TB Programme, is a global coalition of partners, countries and funding agencies, which aims to build up the national capacity of countries and focuses on assisting national TB programmes and other stakeholders in improving implementation of grants from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (The Global Fund).

CNS with support from Lilly MDR TB Partnership visited 14 sites of Programmatic Management of Drug-resistant Tuberculosis (PMDT) in India and conducted key informant interviews on four key themes (counselling, infection control, diagnostics and laboratory services, and treatment and care services) and came up with specific recommendations. Those interviewed included patients of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB), cured MDR-TB patients, their family members, nurses, laboratory technicians, scientists, physicians, home-based care workers, counsellors, among others. The report, was submitted to Planning Commission; Central TB Division of Government of India; among other authorities. It was also disseminated at 8th World Conference of Science Journalists (WCSJ 2013) in Helsinki. Fifth part of this report also includes personal stories of MDR-TB and XDR-TB patients currently on treatment and cured MDR-TB patients.

As part of the ongoing 2by4 communications and advocacy campaign the first mini-series of e-consultation and key informant interviews is on the theme: Women and TB. 2by4 campaign focusses on two key populations (women and children) and four key issues (multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB); laboratory and diagnostics; private-public partnerships (PPP); TB-HIV collaborative activities.

'Two by Four: 2by4' is a time-limited communications' campaign hosted by Citizen News Service - CNS, a partner of Stop TB Partnership, on the Global Stop-TB eForum and other platforms CNS is part of. The 2by4 campaign runs for two months from 24th February to 24th April 2013.

The summary report on multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) services was released during the ongoing Lung Week (12-17 November) and the 43rd Union World Conference on Lung Health in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Citizen News Service – CNS, a partner of the Stop TB Partnership, along with other partners such as National Partnership for TB Care and Control in India, Rural Youth Advocate for Health and Development in Nigeria, National Council of People Living with HIV in India (NCPI+), International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) India, Global Health Advocates (GHA), Sneha Foundation Varanasi, Asha Parivar, Vote For Health campaign, National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) and the Global Stop-TB eForum had hosted the online consultation and key informant interviews on issues related to multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).

The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Diabetes Foundation in association with the Indian government conducted a pilot project this year screening more than 8,000 tuberculosis patients for diabetes, and over 10,000 diabetes patients per quarter for TB. Fasting blood glucose tests for diabetes measured in TB patients at 7 tertiary hospitals and over 60 primary health care centres across the country showed that 13% of them had high blood sugar levels indicating diabetes, with higher rates in the south than in the north. Interim data from the project was presented to India's Revised National TB Control Programme in September 2012 and resulted in a national policy decision to scale up testing of all TB patients for diabetes in the country.

November could be dubbed the “lung health month” this year, with advocates organising World Pneumonia Day on 12 November, World chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) Day on 14 November and the whole month designated by some groups as Lung Cancer Awareness month.  Yet people are largely unaware of their lung health, according to Dr Nils E Billo, Executive Director of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union). “Lung health is as central to health as blood pressure or weight, but most people are unaware of their lungs until something goes wrong”.