World Tuberculosis Day 2014: Consensus statement on the management of patients with MDR-TB and XDR-TB in Europe

Today, the European Respiratory Journal has released the publication of the TBnet consensus statement on the management of patients with MDR-TB and XDR-TB in Europe. The manuscript can be accessed online and  free of charge.

http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/early/2014/03/21/09031936.00188313

You will find important facts and information on the management of your patients as well as recommendations for therapy monitoring and documentation.

2014 World Tuberculosis Day

For the 2014 World TB (Tuberculosis) Day on 24 March 2014 many individuals, groups and organizations are standing together to spread the message of ZERO STIGMA. As the international leader in the fight against TB, Dr. Mario Raviglione, the director of the Global TB Programme at the WHO shared this ZERO STIGMA message. Take up his call to action and join the cause! 

Healthy Lungs for Life campaign 2014: continuing success of the Year of the Lung 2010

Hundreds of millions of people suffer every day from lung diseases, and they cause almost 20% of all deaths in the world. Increased awareness about lung diseases is vital, because they are killing more and more people every year and account for a socioeconomic burden of €102 billion due to health care costs and lost working days in Europe alone. The ‘Big Five' lung disorders are lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia, tuberculosis (TB) and asthma. The impact of lung diseases remains as large today as it was at the turn of the century and is likely to remain so for several decades. Each year in the EU, one in eight of all deaths are due to respiratory diseases and lung conditions cause at least 6 million hospital admissions.

In 2010 was started very ambitious initiative YEAR OF THE LUNG. YEAR OF THE LUNG was the most important and the most successful campaign which emphasized the importance of public awareness about respiratory diseases. Speaking at the European Launch, Prof Nikos Siafakas, ERS President 2010, said that the most respiratory diseases are both preventable and treatable, treatment however is very costly, and effective prevention policies in the EU and worldwide are severely lacking”.

The "Healthy Lungs for Life" initiative will be launched in 2014. The concept behind this initiative is to develop a long-term health awareness campaign that will speak not only to those already affected by lung disease, in order to improve their quality of life, but also to those who may be affected in the future. The objective is to focus on prevention and public education, to try and reduce the
burden of lung disease on society, and to use the ERS congress as the driving force behind the campaign.
This year, in 2014, the theme for Healthy Lungs for Life will be Clean Air. The air that we breathe each day has a massive impact on our lungs, the first internal organ it comes in contact with.

 

COPD Istanbul 2014: International update on COPD

I would like to share with you my experience and impressions about the COPD Istanbul 2014, which took place in Istanbul, Turkey at 8-10 March 2014. The main topic of the Congress was COPD. The conference was attended by a wide range of professionals (more than 500 persons) such as industry leaders, university academics and researchers from all the regions including Turkey, Middle East, Asia, North Africa and Europe. It was high level meeting, the speakers were world known leader in COPD and in Respiratory medicine:

Antonio Anzueto, USA Ashraf Alzaabi, UAE Abdel Rahman Anani, Jordan Nasser Behbehani, Kuwait Francesco Blasi, Italy Miron Bogdan, Romania Demosthenes Bouros, Greece Jean Bousquet, France Vito Brusasco, Italy Mario Cazzola, Italy Alexander Chuchalin, Russia Alexandru Corlateanu, Moldovia Mukadder Calikoglu, Turkey Ronald Dahl, Denmark Giuseppe Di Maria, Italy Anh-Tuan Dinh Xuan, France Pinar Ergun, Turkey Leonardo Fabbri, Italy Mina Gaga, Greece Christina Gratziou, Greece Hakan Gunen, Turkey Gazi Gulbas, Turkey Nilgun Gurses, Turkey Nicola Alexander Hanania, USA Ashraf Hatem, Egypt Ismail Hanta, Turkey Loay El Husseini, Jordan Yavor Ivanov, Bulgaria Nadim Kanj, Lebanon Adel Khatab, Egypt Gunseli Kilinc, Turkey Kosta Kostov, Bulgaria Filiz Kosar, Turkey Jan Lotvall, Sweden

Bassam Mahboub, UAE Maria Gabriella Matera, Italy Florin Mihaltan, Romania Marc Miravitlles, Spain Arzu Mirici, Turkey Mostafa Moin, Iran Levent Cem Mutlu, Turkey Denis O'Donnell, Canada Mustafa Ozhan, Turkey Can Ozturk, Turkey Onder Ozturk, Turkey Clive Page, UK Reynold Panettieri, USA Alberto Papi, Italy Mehmet Polatli, Turkey Nikolaos Siafakas, Greece Joan Soriano, Spain Mecit Suerdem, Turkey Sema Umut, Turkey Omar Usmani, UK Esra Uzaslan, Turkey Thys Van der Molen, The Netherlands Mirna Waket, Lebanon Wisia Wedzicha, UK

1^st  Day of the COPD Istanbul 2014  was dedicated to hot topics in COPD:

Phenotyping the heterogeneity of COPD

Inhaled corticosteroids for COPD

Bench to bedside approach in COPD

New GOLD 2014 Staging: COPD Treatment from A to D

Outcomes for COPD

Pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD; highlights

Emerging therapies for COPD

Prof. Mario Cazzola, Italy and Prof. Gunseli Kilinc, Turkey. Opening Ceremony of COPD Istanbul 2014.

2^nd Day of the COPD Istanbul 2014 was dedicated to:

Overlap syndromes in COPD

COPD: markers and inflammation

COPD guidelines: the important thing is not to stop questioning

Exacerbation of COPD: New perspectives

Management of COPD with NIV

this my presentation: 

The assessment of management of stable COPD: an update 2014 by Corlateanu for COPD Istanbul 2014 from Alexandru Corlateanu

3rd Day of the COPD Istanbul 2014 was dedicated to:

Small airways in COPD – no longer silent

COPD: Effects beyond the Lungs

Prof. Nikos Siafakas, Greece. Closing ceremony of COPD Istanbul 2014

Finally we would like to thank COPD Istanbul 2014 Scientific committee and its Chair Prof. Mario Cazzola, Italy and Vice-chairs Prof. Nikos Siafakas, Greece and Prof. Gunseli Kilinc, Turkey for a successful Conference and remarkable annual organization which allowed taking part in different discussions, to acquire useful information and to establish relations with international specialists.