The Union World Conference on Lung Health 2022 starts tomorrow when researchers, funders and stakeholders will gather virtually until the end of the week to share, discuss and strategize. The theme for this year is “Combating Pandemics: Today and Tomorrow” with the tagline of: “We must work together towards the elimination of all lung health pandemics and this can only be achieved if we address the issues of equity and inclusion for a healthier, safer world.”
This year, THINK’s research will be presented by Dr Suzanne Staples, Dr Lynette Duckworth and Dr Abraham Malaza – each an expert in their areas of expertise.
Dr Suzanne Staples, THINK’s Chief Strategy Officer, will be presenting on “A practical implementation guide for programmatic introduction of the BPaL regimen” under the topic of SP-24 Practical considerations for implementing and scaling up a new DR-TB regimen: experience from early BPaL-adopting countries. She will also be sharing research conducted by THINK on “Gender disparities in DR-TB treatment outcomes in KwaZulu-Natal” under the topic of EP-27 How tailored care can make a difference.
As the TB Technical Lead for the USAID TB LON Project at THINK, Dr Lynette Duckworth will be presenting twice on the implementation of the mobile CAD system for digital chest X-ray. Her presentation “Using mobile CAD system for digital chest X-ray in four KwaZulu Natal districts, South Africa” will fall under SP-30 Is digital X-ray and CAD/AI a game-changer in the fight against TB? and “Finding missing TB cases using digital chest X-ray with computer-aided detection during TB screening in South Africa” will be presented under the topic EP-21 Various lessons learnt from active case finding.
Dr Abraham Malaza, a data analyst at THINK will be sharing his data research on “Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on TB care cascade in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, 2019‒2021” under the topic EP-01 TB and modelling: COVID-19, new vaccine and treatment outcome.
THINK is very proud to be participating at this global platform that aims to work towards averting future pandemics, whilst not forgetting existing pandemics like TB and those most vulnerable to it.