Global health conference to benefit Liverpool city region economy to the tune of £7.8m

More than 3,000 delegates  from 125 countries have descended on the waterfront venue for the Union World Conference on Lung Health. Tony McDonough reports.

The conference is taking place at ACC Liverpool on the waterfront

A major global conference taking place at ACC Liverpool this week is projected to benefit the city region to the tune of an estimated £7.8m

More than 3,000 delegates  from 125 countries have descended on the waterfront venue for the Union World Conference on Lung Health.

It is the world’s largest gathering of clinicians and public health workers; health programme managers; policymakers; researchers and advocates working to end the suffering caused by lung disease.

The conference opened with a keynote address from Ambassador Stephen Lewis, co-director of AIDS Free World and former United Nations special envoy for AIDS in Africa.

It featured a panel of Ministers of Health who reflected on the political commitments and actions in achieving the global targets of ending TB and tobacco-related diseases.

Activity included the lighting of three open fires inside miniaturised replica housing on the venue’s piazza to demonstrate air pollution and fire risks.

Liverpool Homeless Football Club hosted a programme of mini football tournaments also on the piazza to encourage the participation of those communities affected by HIV/AIDS, TB and other lung diseases, as well as World Conference delegates and members of the public.

José Luis Castro, executive director of the Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), said: “It has been 95 years since The Union last convened a meeting in the UK.

“When The Union met in London in 1921 our organisation was a year old and antibiotics had not even been discovered yet.

“As we convene in Liverpool, we face new challenges – including a global health crisis in the form of drug-resistant tuberculosis.

“TB is a modern epidemic, and in Liverpool we will showcase the world’s best scientific and public policy solutions that will help the world finally end TB for good.

“It is fitting that we should return to the UK via Liverpool – a city that has been at the cutting edge of public health for many decades.”

Professor Bertie Squire of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, past president and board member of The Union, was central to bringing the event to the city.

He said: “Liverpool has a proud history of medical research and innovation, innovation which is still apparent today in some of the ground breaking research being carried out across its institutions and through their collaborations across the world.”

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