US embassy cable - 05PARIS7328

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 007328 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR S/GAC, G, OES, OES/IHA, EUR/WE; 
STATE ALSO PASS USAID; 
HHS FOR INTERNATIONAL STEIGER/BUDASHEWITZ/GAY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO, FR 
SUBJECT: LUNG DISEASE CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS GLOBAL EFFORTS 
 
 
1.  Summary: From October 18-22 in Paris, the International 
Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) held 
its 36th World Conference on Lung Health, the world's 
premier meeting of tuberculosis and public health experts 
from the perspective of low-income, high disease-burdened 
countries.  Some two thousand participants from 129 
countries shared experiences and addressed the conference 
theme "scaling up and sustaining effective tuberculosis, HIV 
and asthma prevention and control."  A number of sessions 
underscored that, perhaps for the first time, significant 
resources - largely from the Global Fund against HIV/AIDS, 
Tuberculosis, and Malaria - existed to tackle tuberculosis 
at the global level.  At the conference, the Union, together 
with other partners, including the World Health 
Organization, launched a new asthma drug facility.  End 
Summary. 
 
Global Fund Major Contributor against HIV and TB 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
2.  Traditionally a tuberculosis-focused conference, this 
year the Scientific Program highlighted the strong links 
between tuberculosis and HIV.  Dr. Michel Kazatchkine, 
France's `AIDS Ambassador,' noted in the first plenary that 
tuberculosis now causes one-third of HIV-related deaths.  He 
stated that resources for addressing HIV/AIDS and 
tuberculosis have greatly increased and that the Global Fund 
plays a particularly important role.  Despite progress, 
however, he noted that five million new HIV infections occur 
each year, with significant incidences in young adults and 
women.  He spoke highly of the work of the Global Fund in 
addressing both these diseases.  He noted that HIV proposals 
to the Global Fund are now required to have an anti- 
tuberculosis component and tuberculosis proposals must have 
an anti-HIV component. 
 
3.  The Global Fund's Deputy Executive Director Evans and 
Dr. Kazatchkine both responded to several questions 
addressing Global Fund issues.  One questioner wanted to 
know why, given that free or heavily subsidized 
antiretroviral (ARV) treatments are highly effective in 
enhancing survivability in the HIV disease-ridden, ARV drugs 
are not more universally provided free-of-charge.  Evans and 
Kazatchkine explained that while Global Fund resources are 
made available at no cost to governments, country programs 
often require charges for ARV's and other care.  A project 
coordinator for the Philippines program added that charges 
were necessary for ARV's to generate a sustainability fund 
for the future because Global Fund resources "would not be 
available forever." 
 
Attention to HIV 
---------------- 
 
4.  Two of the three plenary sessions were devoted to HIV 
itself.  (One addressed the responsibility of the scientific 
community to make HIV tests and drugs available to 
developing communities, while the other noted the need to 
increase access to HIV and asthma drugs.) Dr. Helene Gayle, 
from the Gates Foundation, spoke of the tasks, duties and 
responsibilities of the scientific community to ensure the 
accessibility of new tools, including diagnostic tests and 
drugs, to poor and disadvantaged communities, to enable the 
rapid scale up and sustaining of TB and HIV control 
activities.  Dr. Ian Smith from the World Health 
Organization, in a second plenary, outlined the need and 
prerequisites for developing initiatives to increase access 
to HIV and asthma drugs. 
 
5.  To expand knowledge on clinical aspects of HIV/AIDS, two 
post-graduate courses were held: one based on case 
discussions, and the other on integrated care of HIV- 
infected patients, highlighting the natural history of HIV, 
its opportunistic infections and the use of antiretroviral 
medications.  In addition, HIV-related sessions were held on 
laboratory tests, treatment and care, mycobacterial 
immunity, children, countries with emerging TB-HIV co- 
epidemics, policy advocacy, human resource development, 
programmatic issues, and activism. 
 
Giving Activists their Say 
-------------------------- 
 
6.  In an effort to expand from its programmatic, scientific 
and technologic base, the Union also embraced the key role 
of community activists, who have contributed greatly in not 
only the battle against HIV/AIDS, but also against 
tuberculosis.  Mr. Zackie Achmat, an HIV/AIDS activist from 
South Africa, presented the guest lecture "How can social 
mobilization contribute to enhancing and sustaining TB and 
HIV/AIDS control in low-income settings?" 
 
Addressing Needs of Asthma Victims 
---------------------------------- 
 
7.  Worldwide, approximately 300 million people suffer from 
asthma.  Although this disease has been identified as a 
significant public health problem in developing countries, 
where the majority of asthmatics reside, most cases go 
undiagnosed, untreated or are mistreated.  Poor access to 
medications, in terms of both affordability and 
availability, is the main barrier.  At the conference, The 
Union, working with partners such as the World Health 
Organization, launched a new mechanism - the Asthma Drug 
Facility - to provide access to affordable good quality 
essential asthma drugs, which will use pooled requests to 
obtain the lowest possible prices, as well as providing 
technical assistance and monitoring of their storage, 
distribution and use. 
 
Note your calendar! 
------------------- 
 
8. Next year's conference will be held in Paris, October 30 
through November 4, 2006. 
 
9. Comment: Aside from providing practitioners from around 
the world with knowledge and technical training in 
addressing lung diseases (and HIV), the plenary sessions of 
the conference underscored the important - and grave - nexus 
between HIV and tuberculosis, and the need to develop 
treatment programs to address both diseases simultaneously. 
In this regard, conference speakers noted the greater 
availability of donor resources in recent years targeted at 
developing world health concerns.  The work of the Global 
Fund in particular plays an acknowledged, important role 
internationally in addressing not only HIV, but also lung 
disease.  End Comment. 
 
STAPLETON