CNS: 2023

CNS wishes you a very happy new year 2024

Looking back at over 150 articles published on CNS (English, Hindi, Thai) in 2023 (and via CNS news wire syndication network worldwide), we are delighted to say that each of them, and the issues they focussed on, was so very important. Our heartfelt thanks to all those who shared their insights, analysis, reflections and science, evidence and rights-based viewpoints.

Looking back at health and development conferences (and other public health and development meetings) covered by CNS in 2023 on a range of issues around health and development justice, here is a list of top 12 (based on the popularity of the conference coverage).

Faith can move mountains. Thanks to all partners and supporters who helped us do what we dare to do best. We look forward to continued solidarity and support in 2024 and beyond.

Looking back at CNS audio podcasts of 2023 on a range of issues around health and development justice, that streamed via CNS on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, Podtail, BluBrry, Himalaya, ListenNotes, American Podcasts, CastBox FM, Ivy FM, Player FM, and other podcast streaming platforms, here is a list of top 12.

Looking back at over 100 online sessions (such as, Gender Equality Talks Live, End TB Dialogues, SDG Talks Live, Global Media Forum on Antimicrobial Resistance) hosted by CNS in 2023 and live streamed, we are delighted to say that each of them, and the issues they focussed on, was so very important. Our heartfelt thanks to all the panelists and participants.

Click here to register

Be welcome to join an engaging online discussion on youth and online gender-based violence: challenges and solutions.

[हिन्दी] As the year 2023 comes to an end, it is indeed a quantum of solace moment in terms of finding all TB worldwide. Globally we could find a record number of new TB cases in a single year - historically. Over 7.5 million new TB cases were diagnosed in 2022 worldwide – highest ever in the age-old fight against TB (as per the latest Global TB Report of the UN health agency, the World Health Organization (WHO) which was released in November 2023).

If we are to end TB as promised by all the governments of African countries and globally, we need to find all people with TB, link them to effective standard treatment and care. If full cascade of TB services fails to reach people with TB, then not only will it result in avoidable human suffering but also fail us in stopping the spread of infection. Finding TB remains the critical entry-point to TB care pathway.

[podcast] Women migrant workers: Heroes of remittance or survivors of violence?

This episode of Gender Equality Talks Podcast Series, puts spotlight on issues faced by women migrant workers in Asia. Three feminist journalists-editors from India, Indonesia and Nepal, share their insights: Rita Widiadana, former Editor of The Jakarta Post (Indonesia); Kalpana Acharya, Editor-in-Chief of Health TV Online (Nepal) and former President of Health Journalists Forum Nepal; and Shobha Shukla, founder Managing Editor of CNS.

The “feminisation” of migration is most visible in Asia, where women constitute over 50% of all migrant workers. It is mostly poverty, and regressive societal norms in their home country that push 5 million women in South East Asia to migrate to other countries in search of a life that gives them economic independence to be able to carve a better future for their family back home. But their dreams can go terribly wrong at times. Despite making strong societal and economic contributions (to countries of origin and destination), their journey of migration is beset with serious human rights violations, including the risk of physical and sexual violence, harassment and abuse.

The least that countries can do is to make migration safe and fair for female migrant workers through enforcement of labour laws that protect labour and other human rights of workers.

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, Podtail, BluBrry, Himalaya, ListenNotes, American Podcasts, CastBox FM, Ivy FM, Player FM, and other podcast streaming platforms.

[video] Find all TB to stop TB call at ICASA 2023

Dreams of female migrant workers are often shattered, but hope remains

Published in The Jakarta Post, Indonesia (11 December 2023)

written by: Rita Widiadana and Shobha Shukla

Purwanti (name has been changed to maintain confidentiality) was just 17 when she arrived in Hong Kong. When she saw the stunning views of glittering lights, lines of high-rise buildings, beautifully dressed women and the lavish lifestyles she came to know from many Hong Kong-produced movies and TV dramas, Purwanti felt her dream had come true.

[हिन्दी] In today’s world many human interactions are taking place in the online spaces. As the internet and mobile technologies, as well as social media spaces, become more and more accessible, this is where many of our real life activities take place. Many of us find virtual spaces safe and convenient to share opinions, exchange ideas, increase our knowledge, and find entertainment, without even stepping out of our homes.

[हिन्दी] Female migrant workers, despite contributing a significant share to the economy, face alarming levels of sexual and other forms of gender-based violence and harassment all across the migration cycle. Actions to make labour and migration safe and fair a reality for them are sketchy at best or few and far between.

Shooting our own foot: Misuse of medicines is making infections difficult to treat

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and become resistant to (or no longer respond to) medicines, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death. As a result of drug resistance, medicines become ineffective, and infections become increasingly difficult or impossible to treat. That is why AMR ranks among the top ten global health threats worldwide.

Not just a Portuguese connect, Goa also has a Paris link now. The “Global Call to find all TB to stop TB” which was launched earlier this month in Goa, India was in prime spotlight at the World Conference on Lung Health 2023 in Paris.

[video] 3rd Global Media Forum on Antimicrobial Resistance

Will governments firewall public health from Big Tobacco at the upcoming FCTC Treaty meet?

Tobacco industry interference in its myriad sinister forms is one of the biggest obstacles to implement the legally-binding global tobacco treaty. Unless the devious designs of Big Tobacco are thwarted and the industry is held to account legally and financially for causing irreparable damage to human life and our planet, #endTobacco will continue to remain elusive. The upcoming inter-governmental meeting of the global tobacco treaty offers a chance to put people before profit and advance stronger measures for tobacco control.

[video] 22nd International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa to be held in Zimbabwe

Join hands with Global AMR Media Alliance - GAMA

(click here to join the Global AMR Media Alliance - GAMA)

This podcast features Tariro Kutadza who is a noted Zimbabwean HIV and TB advocate, and has helped shape HIV and TB advocacy agendas at national, regional and global level. She is an elected member of the Zimbabwe Country Coordinating Mechanism and Southern Africa Regional Coordinating Mechanism, representing TB-affected communities in the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (The Global Fund) and Advisory Panel of International Union Against TB and Lung Disease (The Union).

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, Podtail, BluBrry, Himalaya, ListenNotes, American Podcasts, CastBox FM, Ivy FM, Player FM, and other podcast streaming platforms.

3rd Annual Global Media Forum in lead up to World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW 2023)

(click here to register)

Media representatives are welcomed to attend the 3rd Annual Global Media Forum in lead up to World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW) 2023 to have a direct interface with senior experts from the quadripartite organizations that have united to address Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) - one of the top 10 threats to global health security. These quadripartite organizations include: the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, founded as OIE).

(click here to endorse the global call) Unless we stop missing TB cases, we cannot end TB. One of the key actions enshrined in the WHO Director General’s flagship initiative to Find.Treat.All (first launched in 2018) is to replace microscopy with upfront rapid molecular diagnostic test by 2027, because microscopy underperforms in diagnosing TB, and thereby misses TB cases. More importantly, the WHO initiative backed by the Stop TB Partnership and The Global Fund, calls for a people-centred and rights-based TB response, through community-led and gender-transformative interventions.

A Lancet Commission report investigating the nexus of "Women, power, and cancer" says that "patriarchy dominates cancer care, research, and policy making."

This Podcast features Dr Sheshi Michael, who is a seasoned infectious Diseases expert, supporting the National TB programme in Nigeria at both National and sub-national levels. Currently is the KNCV Nigeria's Director, Private Sector TB Initiative. He is a member of the National drug-resistant TB Concilium of experts in Nigeria.

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, Podtail, BluBrry, Himalaya, ListenNotes, American Podcasts, CastBox FM, Ivy FM, Player FM, and other podcast streaming platforms.

Breaking access barriers and bringing quality healthcare closer to the people in Meghalaya

Unless the full cascade of quality healthcare services reaches closer to the underserved communities, how will we deliver on the promise of #HealthForAll? One positive ray of light comes from an underserved block of Meghalaya, a north-eastern state of India.

[video, podcast] "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has,” had said the famous anthropologist Margaret Mead. Bearing testimony to this, a small group of people in Bantayan Municipality of Cebu, Philippines, has changed the lives of many people affected by tuberculosis (TB). TB, despite being preventable and curable, continues to be the deadliest of the infectious diseases in high TB burden countries.

Are we putting money where the mouth is to reach the missing millions?

Unless we find people with TB and put them on treatment, how will we be able to reduce avoidable human suffering, untimely deaths, and break the chain of infection transmission? Finding TB remains the critical entry point to TB care pathway.

Leaders of all the UN member countries are expected to convene on 22nd September 2023 at the upcoming second United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting (UNHLM) on TB (the first one was held in September 2018). The theme of this year's UNHLM is: “Advancing science, finance and innovation, and their benefits, to urgently end the global TB epidemic, in particular by ensuring equitable access to prevention, testing, treatment and care."

[podcast] Georgia's journey of reducing TB and drug-resistant TB rates

This podcast features Dr Nino Lomtadze, Head of Surveillance and Strategic Planning Department at Georgia's National TB Programme. Georgia was among the high MDR-TB burden countries till 2016 after which TB rates (including those of drug-resistant forms) have been dropping. TB decline has been 6-7% in recent years. TB surveillance and use of latest TB diagnostics and treatments have resulted in reduction in TB rates in Georgia.

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, Podtail, BluBrry, Himalaya, ListenNotes, American Podcasts, CastBox FM, Ivy FM, Player FM, and other podcast streaming platforms.

[podcast] Would Seychelles be the first African country to end TB?

This podcast features Dr Louine Morel, Medical Registrar, Communicable Disease Control unit, Ministry of Health of Seychelles, who was on the panel for #EndTB Dialogues (season-2), #90for90 #GlobalVoices Series. Seychelles 100% funds its fight against tuberculosis and has managed to keep TB under bay. Although there has a rise in notified cases in the recent years. Listen to more insights from Dr Morel. Seychelles is likely to be the first country in Africa to end TB, hopes Dr Louine Morel.

[video] Vietnam study: 68% drop in TB if we screen all (not just those with symptoms) and link to standard treatment and care pathway

[podcast] Vietnam study: 68% drop in TB if we screen all (not just those with symptoms) and link to standard treatment and care pathway

Vietnam study shows 68% drop in new TB cases if we screen everyone (not just those with symptoms) and link them with standard treatment, care and support pathway. It is important to underline that Vietnam study had deployed WHO recommended molecular tests upfront to confirm TB (and rifampicin-resistant TB) and link those diagnosed with active TB disease to standard care.

This podcast features study co-author Associate Professor Dr Nguyen Binh Hoa, who is also the Vice Manager of Vietnam National TB Programme, Vice Director of National Lung Hospital, and Director of Vietnam Integrated Center for TB and Respirology Research (VICTORY), and Vice Director of Vietnam Global Fund TB project.

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, Podtail, BluBrry, Himalaya, ListenNotes, American Podcasts, CastBox FM, Ivy FM, Player FM, and other podcast streaming platforms.

[video] Will people take back power to demand rights-based TB services and hold governments to account?

[podcast] Will people demand rights-based WHO recommended TB services and hold governments to account?

This podcast features Eloisa 'Louie' Zepeda-Teng, a TB survivor and powerful advocate, and founder of TB People Philippines. She survived one of the rare and serious forms of TB, due to which lost her vision but rose to build people-power to demand people-centred health responses which respect disability rights and inclusion.

This podcast features Ani Herna Sari, Chair of Rekat Peduli Indonesia Foundation (TB survivor organisation), who calls upon the governments to ensure access to best of WHO recommended diagnostics, treatments, care and support, and prevention services for everyone. Ani was a lecturer in one of the most prestigious academic institutions in Indonesia before the TB bacteria changed her life course, and led her to found Rekat Peduli Indonesia for larger good.

[podcast] Detecting TB early and accurately is critical part of #EndTB strategy: Know more about TB laboratory on wheels in Timor-Leste

This podcast features Dr Arvind Mathur, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative to Timor-Leste. Detecting the TB cases and the diagnostics are very critical part of the #EndTB Strategy, says Dr Mathur. He shares insights on range of ways we can increase new TB case detection by using existing diagnostic technologies in local contexts, rollout of best treatment regimens for TB, and care and support needs. He shines a spotlight on one of the best examples of reaching out and serving the unreached: the TB laboratory on wheels in Timor-Leste (a mobile van which has WHO recommended Truenat molecular test and portable x-ray).

[podcast] Fighting TB one 'Barangay' at a time: New decentralised & point-of-care tools making a difference

This podcast features Dr Samantha Tinsay, Municipal Health Officer, Bantayan Municipality, Cebu, Philippines, who shares her team's experience of deploying new TB diagnostic tools (ultra-portable x-ray of Fujifilm, and molecular test Truenat of Molbio Diagnostics) in Bantayan islands or islets.

More importantly. she shares the context how these new tools (xray and molecular test Truenat) were taken on a 'pump boat' (a utility boat in Philippines) from one islet to another for active case finding, and how these tools worked effectively on the ground - in very basic infrastructure (like under a tent) - and braving extreme weather conditions too.

[podcast] To detect TB is to fight TB: Diagnosis is critical entry point to TB care pathway

This podcast features Sumit Mitra, President of Global Sales and Marketing, Molbio Diagnostics, who asserts "To detect TB is to fight TB." Diagnosis is critical entry point to TB care pathway and towards #EndTB, he says. As per Government's 2021 and 2022 India TB Reports, Molbio's Truenat molecular test, was the most used molecular test in India to diagnose TB among those with presumptive TB, and detect drug resistance upfront. It is currently rolled out in over 40 countries - most of them are high TB burden nations in Asia and Africa. Apart from accurately diagnosing TB within an hour, Truenat molecular test is also effective in diagnosing a range of ~40 diseases, such as, malaria, HIV (viral load), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), human papilloma virus (HPV), dengue, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), among others.

[podcast] Multi-disease, point-of-care and decentralised molecular testing should be the norm, says Sriram Natarajan

This podcast features Sriram Natarajan, cofounder and Chief Executive Officer of Molbio Diagnostics - who leads the team behind Truenat - the only World Health Organization (WHO) approved and recommended point-of-care and decentralised molecular test for TB globally. Timely and correct diagnosis helps to avert untimely deaths, and reduce human suffering, says Sriram Natarajan. For infectious diseases, timely and correct diagnosis helps break the chain of infection transmission. Diagnosis remains the key entry point to treatment and care pathway, and towards disease elimination.

[podcast] Global peace is integral to end TB goal, says Dr Hiam Yaacoub of Lebanon

This podcast features Dr Hiam Yaacoub, who has been the National TB Programme Manager of Lebanon since 2012. She is a senior specialist in respiratory medicine and TB at the Ministry of Public Health of Lebanon since 1994 onwards. A World Health Organization WHO TB and drug-resistant TB Expert, Dr Hiam Yaacoub is a noted part of Lebanese Pulmonary Society and Lebanese Order of Physicians since 1993.

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, Podtail, BluBrry, Himalaya, ListenNotes, American Podcasts, CastBox FM, Ivy FM, Player FM, and other podcast streaming platforms.

[podcast] Is Indonesia on track to end TB by 2030? Insights from Dr Imran Pambudi

This podcast features Dr Imran Pambudi, Director of Communicable Disease Prevention and Control, Indonesia Ministry of Health. He is also a senior Medical Faculty of Airlangga University and ASEAN Institute of Health Development Program, Mahidol University, Thailand.

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, Podtail, BluBrry, Himalaya, ListenNotes, American Podcasts, CastBox FM, Ivy FM, Player FM, and other podcast streaming platforms.

1. RATIONALE: India has efficient TB testing methods (such as, WHO recommended laboratory-independent, point-of-care and de-centralised molecular test) for TB infection, but we need to make sure that everyone has access to them as per the WHO guidelines. Molecular test must be the first initial test for every person with presumptive TB upfront because microscopy underperforms to detect TB. Currently, there is limited access (only 23% of people with presumptive TB were tested using a TB molecular test in 2022 as per India TB Report).

FIRST ACTION POINT: We need to ensure that TB tests that underperforms like smear microscopy is 100% replaced by laboratory-independent, point-of-care and decentralised molecular test at the earliest, and communities are made aware about their existence and demand for them.

[podcast] Ghana's 100% TB molecular testing is vital yet a long way to end TB goalpost

This podcast features Dr Yaw Adusi-Poku, Programme Manager of National TB Control, Ghana Health Service. Dr Yaw Adusi-Poku is a senior Physician Specialist (public health) too.

[podcast] Is Kenya on track to end TB in next 88 months?

This podcast features Evaline Kibuchi, noted #endTB activist and leader, and Chief National Coordinator of Stop TB Partnership Kenya. She is a global health advocate with a key focus on TB with over ten years in advocacy.

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, Podtail, BluBrry, Himalaya, ListenNotes, American Podcasts, CastBox FM, Ivy FM, Player FM, and other podcast streaming platforms.

[podcast] Laws for same sex marriage and adoption rights give hope in Taiwan

This podcast features Jennifer Lu, Director for Asia Programmes, Outright International. She is a dedicated activist for LGBTQIAP+ rights and political reform movements for over 20 years nationally and internationally. She is a social worker, lesbian feminist, author, and Taiwanese. Before joining Outright, Jennifer was Executive Director of Taiwan Equality Campaign, known as Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan - a leading organization that pushed marriage equality in Taiwan.