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Shobha Shukla, CNS (Citizen News Service) (To mark International Women's Day 2017, CNS presents an exclusive story of courage and inspirtion, based upon an interview with TB survivor and activist Prabha Mahesh)  "I can never forget that day. It is etched in my mind forever. I came back from the laboratory, totally devastated and in tears. I had never ever thought even in the wildest of my dreams that a person like me could contract TB. But that was what my reports confirmed. I was so distraught that I asked my younger sister to promise to take care of my then 1 year old baby daughter in case I died (which I thought I would)", reminisced Prabha Mahesh , while narrating her traumatic brush with a disease that globally infects more than 10.4 million people and kills 1.8 million of them in a year. Prabha, who holds a Masters degree in Psychiatry and Social Work, was working as a superintendent in a government home for mentally challenged children in Mumbai when she was di...

[ Listen or download the audio podcast ] [ Watch the video interview ] Having invested over 30 years in fight against TB, Dr KK Chopra who is the present Director of New Delhi TB Centre in India's capital, shares key insights on how to accelerate the battle to #endTB by 2030. Reflecting on the past decades, he shares key game-changing pivots that propelled the fight against TB and some things that could have done better. [ Listen or download the audio podcast ] [ Watch the video interview ]

[ Listen or download this audio podcast ] This is the recording of a special webinar in lead up to World TB Day 2017 where experts shared experiences on the role of faith in the fight against TB, and explored opportunities of how faith can help to expedite efforts to #endTB by 2030. [ Listen or download this audio podcast ]

[ Listen or download this podcast ] Catherine Mwauyakufa is an award-winning journalist and CNS Correspondent from Zimbabwe as well. She is among CNS Fellow awardees too. She shared her personal experience of role of faith in caring for the HIV affected communities and cautions against blind faith while acknowledging the pivotal role faith can play in "road to recovery" as well. Listen to her experience here (or download the podcast ). This audio podcast was broadcasted on a webinar on 28th February 2017 on "Does faith help in fighting TB? " [ Listen or download this podcast ]

[ Watch webinar recording ] [ Listen or download audio podcast ] Be welcome to register for this exclusive webinar in lead up to World TB Day 2017 where experts will share experiences on the role of faith in the fight against TB , and explore opportunities of how faith can help to expedite efforts to #endTB by 2030. Watch recording | Listen/ download audio podcast Experts including those from the Desmond Tutu TB Centre in South Africa and International Union Against TB and Lung Disease (The Union) will present and respond to questions live! DATE: Tuesday, 28th February 2017 TIME: 1:00pm Geneva Time (check www.timeanddate.com for your local time) Watch recording | Listen/ download audio podcast Panel of experts [ Watch 4:50 - 17:30 of webinar recording ] Jody Boffa , community-based researcher and epidemiologist at the Desmond Tutu TB Centre, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa and Vanier Doctoral Research Scholar at the Department of Community Health Sciences, Universi...

[ Listen or dowload this audio podcast ] Dr Chitra Chandrashekar, recipient of prestigious Professor OA Sarma Oration Award 2016 spoke with Shobha Shukla, Managing Editor of CNS (Citizen News Service).  She shared her study findings that got her the coveted recognition. Preventing TB from spreading any further is indeed a compelling public health imperative. TB hotspots cannot be on blindspots. [ Listen or dowload this audio podcast ] [ Watch video ]

Shobha Shukla, CNS (Citizen News Service) Shobha Shukla, CNS (L), Dr Chitra Chandrashekar (R) [ audio podcast ] [ video ] So said award-winning Dr Chitra Chandrashekar , Director of  Dr Iravatham’s Clinical Laboratory, Hyderabad. I met her in Mumbai during NAPCON 2016 and was struck by her modesty and her passion for working in the field of TB. Chitra spoke with CNS (Citizen News Service) about her study titled 'Host susceptibility to Mycobacteria and Transmission dynamics' , related to the transmission dynamics of TB, which won her the prestigious Professor OA Sarma Oration Award at NAPCON 2016. Listen or download this audio podcast   Watch this video interview Here is what Dr Chitra Chandrashekar shared: “ It is important to know why TB transmission continues unabated in high burden countries like India, despite there being tools to control it. My study investigated TB transmission dynamics and associated risk factors in the micro environment of urban slums, which are ...

Shobha Shukla, Citizen News Service - CNS Dr Navneet Singh, PGIMER (L), Shobha Shukla, CNS (C) and Dr Marzi Mehta, surgical oncologist (R) [ Watch this video ] [ Listen or download audio podcast ] Lung cancer is the most common cancer worldwide. In 2012, there were an estimated 1.8 million new lung cancer cases (13% of all cancers diagnosed), and 1.59 million deaths (19.4% of the total cancer deaths). According to the latest cancer registry data released by the Indian Council of Medical Research , 0.114 million new lung cancer cases (83,000 in males and 31,000 in females) are estimated during 2016 in India. Watch this video Listen or download audio podcast Over 20% cancer-deaths preventable Anne Jones , senior tobacco control expert with the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease (The Union); former CEO of ASH Australia; and Medal of the order of Australia (OAM) awardee; said that over 20% of all cancer deaths are caused by tobacco use. Tobacco use not only dangerously ele...

Shobha Shukla, Citizen News Service - CNS Dr Navneet Singh, PGIMER (L), Shobha Shukla, CNS (C) and Dr Marzi Mehta, surgical oncologist (R) Lung cancer is the most common cancer worldwide. In 2012, there were an estimated 1.8 million new lung cancer cases (13% of all cancers diagnosed), and 1.59 million deaths (19.4% of the total cancer deaths). According to the latest cancer registry data released by the Indian Council of Medical Research , 0.114 million new lung cancer cases (83,000 in males and 31,000 in females) are estimated during 2016 in India. Diagnostic challenges Dr Navneet Singh, Pulmonologist, PGIMER While early diagnosis of lung cancer helps save lives, it is beset with many challenges. TB and lung cancer have overlapping symptoms and, to some extent, similar radiological findings. So people with lung cancer, especially those living in areas far away from good healthcare facilities, often get misdiagnosed and are treated for TB. They are referred to tertiary care centres on...

Josephine Chinele, CNS Correspondent, Malawi Over 50% of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Malawi develop TB at some point of time and 7% of TB patients die whilst on treatment. International Union against TB and Lung Disease Press Statement titled TB 2016 and AIDS 2016: Jointly Tackling the Co-epidemic released in July this year says that these diseases together make up a co-epidemic, posing unique challenges to individuals and communities that bear the burden of both diseases at the same time. This is deeply entangling, particularly in sub-Saharan African countries like Malawi, as TB has become the leading cause of death among those who are HIV-positive, despite the fact that today HIV infection can be managed with antiretroviral therapy (ART), and TB can be cured in the vast majority of cases. When a person develops HIV, the immune system loses its ability to fight off infections, making him/her more vulnerable to developing other diseases like TB. PLHIV are especially vulnerable t...

Francis Okoye, CNS Correspondent, Nigeria Medical and historical evidence now abound, showing that the world cannot fight AIDS by ignoring TB. In 2015, the world recorded 10.4 million new TB cases of which people living with HIV (PLHIV) accounted for 1.2 million (11%) cases. There were an estimated 1.4 million TB deaths, with 400,000 deaths resulting from TB disease among PLHIV. The risk of developing TB is 26-31 times greater in PLHIV. Nearly 75% of PLHIV who contract TB live in sub-Saharan Africa. In some countries in this region, up to 80% of individuals with active TB disease are also HIV-positive. TB-HIV co-infection increasingly poses a risk to people living in other regions as well. Around 30% of all people who become sick with TB live in Asia, where TB accounts for 40% of AIDS related deaths. Eastern Europe too has the fastest-growing HIV epidemic globally, making this region vulnerable to increasing TB-HIV co-infection as well. In a webinar organized for the media by Citize...

Alice Sagwidza-Tembe, CNS Correspondent, Swaziland Leafing through my birthday good wishes from friends, family and foes, on my Facebook, WhatsApp, Tweet, Instagram, Skype and other social media accounts, I realised hundreds of postings were well designed cards, songs, articles about the World AIDS Day commemoration. Companies, churches, schools, governments, non-state actors, groups, individual of every creed, race and religion were gathering and posting pictures and speeches remembering their loved ones lost to HIV/AIDS, those living with HIV and those caring for the sick. It reminded me that some couple of decades ago the 1st of December would have been a very different day for me, characterised by a birthday cake, friends and family gathered, lots of fried chicken, non-stop telephone calls with well wishes. Well there was no Facebook then. But today my birthday wishes are juxtaposed with grim reminders of the devastation caused by the deadly HIV. According to the WHO, in 2015 th...

Shobha Shukla, Citizen News Service - CNS Both TB and HIV pose serious health risks. But when these two infections join together, the result is a potentially lethal co-epidemic of TB-HIV. Their coexistence is similar to opposites attracting each other despite glaring differences like two unlike poles of a magnet. They are two linked epidemics that must be fought together, in order to make significant progress in ending both.  The facts are alarming. People living with HIV (PLHIV) are 26 times more likely to develop TB than those without HIV infection and TB is the predominant cause of death for PLHIV, responsible in 2015 for 1 in 3of these deaths. In 2015, there were an estimated 10.4 million new TB cases worldwide, 1.2 million (11%) being in PLHIV. Also of the estimated 1.4 million TB deaths in 2015, 400,000 deaths were among PLHIV. 40-80% of HIV infected people with TB have extra pulmonary disease, compared with 10-20% of people without HIV. PLHIV also face increased threat of ...

Aarti Dhar, CNS Correspondent, India (First published in theindiasaga.com) Tuberculosis (TB) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) pose a serious health risk. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) , the risk of developing TB is estimated to be between 26 and 31 times greater in people living with HIV (PLHIV). In 2015, there were an estimated 10.4 million new TB cases worldwide, of which PHLIV accounted for 1.2 million (11%) cases. TB caused 400,000 deaths among the PLHIV of the 1.4 million who died of TB in the same year. The TB-HIV co-infection is potentially lethal combination. When a person develops HIV, his/her immune system loses its ability to fight off infections, making him/her more vulnerable to other infections like TB. PLHIV are especially vulnerable to TB in countries where TB is common. Roughly, 75% of PLHIV who contract TB live in sub-Saharan Africa. In some countries of this region, up to 80% of individuals with active TB disease are also HIV-positive. TB-HIV...

[ Click here to listen or download the podcast ] This webinar for media was held on 30th November 2016 featuring experts from the AIDS Society of India; People's Health Organisation; and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union); who shared why TB and HIV collaborative activities are so critically important to help the world end TB and AIDS both by 2030. [ Click here to listen or download the podcast ]

Shobha Shukla, CNS ( Citizen News Service) [ Watch this video interview ] [ Listen or download the audio podcast ] Mahatma Gandhi had once said, "If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning". Gandhi's thought resurfaced after listening to Dr Ishwar Gilada , President of AIDS Society of India (ASI). He could not have been more sincere in demanding action to the fullest to #end AIDS by 2030 as promised by our governments. Fragmented actions in silos and scattered across sectors are just not enough to build up the pace on the ground to help governments keep this promise to #endAIDS. At the 2015 UN General Assembly, our governments had committed to end AIDS, TB and malaria by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Dr Ishwar Gilada spoke with CNS (Citizen News Service) at the sidelines of the 9th National Conference of AIDS Society of India (ASICON 2016). This interview is p...