Yassen Tcholakov

On #EducationFriday (17 April, 08:30–10:30), I’ll be speaking in the session titled: “Outbreak investigation: through the eyes of a field epidemiologist and public health microbiologist”, organised by the EPIET Alumni Network ESGEM @escmid.bsky.social
@yassentch.bsky.social @ecdc.europa.eu

Huge congratulations to @drejoanneliu.bsky.social & @tivabaral.bsky.social for launching the Pandemic and Emergency Readiness Lab (PERL) at @mcgillspgh.bsky.social @mcgilldgph.bsky.social

Bravo! 👏🏽👏🏽

Very interesting critical evaluation of things that media struggled with for communication during the #pandemic. @picardonhealth.bsky.social :
-Communicating uncertainty
-Showing the equity impacts
#GlobalHealth
@mcgillghp.bsky.social

Can't make it to the launch event in person? You can watch the livestream here: www.youtube.com/live/0hD5r_4...

Deep thoughts about the state of the world at the PERL launch: "Maybe the withdrawal of the US from bilateral structures, and the increasing reliance on bilateral agreements, is lifting the blanket and showing us the state of how things have been for a long time".
@roojinhabibi.org
#GlobalHealth

Very nice to see old #GlobalHealth advocates and colleagues @nschwalbe.bsky.social and @roojinhabibi.org taking about the politics of #pandemic preparedness during the @mcgillspgh.bsky.social Pandemic and Emergency Readiness Lab (PERL) launch.

Nice shootout to #NewZealand when discussing countries which deployed "fairer" travel restriction policies during the #COVID19 #pandemic.
@mcgillspgh.bsky.social
#PublicHealth #GlobalHealth

Some of the initial projects:

Very glad to be at the launch of the Pandemic and Emergency Readiness Lab (PERL) at @mcgillspgh.bsky.social.
@drejoanneliu.bsky.social @tivabaral.bsky.social @madhupai.bsky.social

Midway through #IGWG4, progress on the #PandemicAgreement’s #PABS Annex remains slow, with several pending issues and limited negotiation days.

Here are key midweek takeaways 🧵👇🏼

At the #UnionConf World Conference on Lung Health in Copenhagen, our Steering Committee member, Dr @yassentch.bsky.social presented how gaps in Canada’s health system make it harder for people to get the TB medicines they need, and how providers are helping drive change.

#EndTB

Starting now:
Plenary A - High stakes, low certainty: Post-Normal Science in public health governance with Silvio Funtowicz from University of Bergen.

Listen, comment and join the discussion!
You can still register and follow the conference LIVE here: bit.ly/ESCAIDE2025Register

#ESCAIDE2025

Interesting #epi conversation during session on #TB diagnostics at #WCLH2025 about diagnostic yield and tradeoff between accessibility and sensitivity.
Conclusion: yield of tongue swabs is not inferior to sputum, using both maximizes yield.
@madhupai.bsky.social @cdenki.bsky.social
#EndTB #EpiSky

#WCLH2025: TB medications:
We are in an oasis of new developments.
We are in the midst robust drug pipeline in history.

Will those developments be available to Canadians when they become available to the world? There are already many challenges to access for currently exciting medications!

Nice that you once more have a packed room! Enjoyed the course last year. Looking forwards to bumping into you at #WCLH2025!

My call to participants:
Identify a community of which you are part and how you would like to organise to impact the world.
Find someone from a community where you live, work, or serve.
Plan how you can give power to a community you serve or take power for a community you represent.
#EndTB #WCLH2025

It was an honor to speak at the @who.int #EndTB summit at the #WCLH2025 and sharing thoughts about how critical community engagement is especially at times of growing resources constraints.

TB advocates remind us about the impact of devastating funding and aid cuts at the @theunion.org conference on TB

Why is it that at every conference these days, we have to discuss how Visa issues further exacerbate inequities in the world; the invited keynote speaker shouldn't be denied telling their story #WCLH2025.
@lars-loekke.bsky.social @theunion.org @johngreensbluesky.bsky.social @madhupai.bsky.social

Very moving to see Henry Reider, the main character through whose eyes we see #Tuberculosis in John Green's book!
It's amazing to be at a conference that not only brings together the top scientists in a field but also the people who live with the disease we talk about! #WCLH2025.

Dr Cassandra Kelly-Cirino, Executive Director of The Union, opened #WCLH2025 with powerful words:

“In the face of devastating funding cuts & geopolitical turmoil, we must squeeze every drop of potential from this conference to move the needle & avert any further derailment.”

Fun to have @johngreensbluesky.bsky.social as the opening keynote of the #WCLH2025. With his book "Everything Is Tuberculosis" he did an amazing work of popularising TB science in a way that other, beyond scientists and clinicians deeply involved in this work can understand!
@theunion.org #EndTB

Very glad to be at the @who.int #EndTB summit in the @whoeurope.bsky.social in #Copenhagen!
The summit opens with Hans Kluge and Tereza Kasaeva.

"Ending TB is not a question of science, we have the science, it's a question of courage and political will."
#TheUnion2025

I unfortunatly won't be able to attend this year with a planned meeting overlapping in a Copenhagen #WCLH2025 @theunion.org where I am also looking forward to meet some #GlobalHealthFriends and colleagues working on TB.
#GlobalHealth #EndTB

Registration Information about how to register for ESCAIDE.

If you're going to be at #ESCAIDE2025, do drop by our poster on #Wastewater surveillance in #Nunavik presented by @carolinerusso.bsky.social
Programming looks great, I encourage #EpiSky colleagues to register even to attend a few of the sessions virtually! www.escaide.eu/en/attendees...
@escaide.eu

Wastewater surveillance requires ethical use Wastewater-based surveillance (WBS) enables the early detection of infectious diseases (1, 2) and monitoring of community health trends (3), making it a critical public health tool. This year, US poli...

Wastewater surveillance must remain a public health tool, not a mechanism of control.
Read the article by Patrick D'Aoust here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#EpiSky #PublicHealth #MedicalEthics

As a public health physician, I’m deeply concerned when tools designed to protect and improve health are repurposed to restrict access to care. Such misuse undermines public trust, threatens privacy, and directly contradicts core medical and public health ethical principles.

WMA - The World Medical Association-WMA Statement on Trans People WMA - The World Medical Association

At this same meeting, the WMA just adopted its Statement on Trans People, which calls on physicians to speak out against legislation that violates human rights.
www.wma.net/policies-pos...

Wastewater surveillance requires ethical use Wastewater-based surveillance (WBS) enables the early detection of infectious diseases (1, 2) and monitoring of community health trends (3), making it a critical public health tool. This year, US poli...

As the @medwma.bsky.social just concluded its GA discussing critical medical ethics issues, it has come to my attention that wastewater-based surveillance is being politicized to track compounds linked to reproductive and gender-affirming care in the US!
#EpiSky #PublicHealth #MedicalEthics

The @cmadocs.bsky.social rejoins the @medwma.bsky.social!
Nice to see the Canadians back in this important #GlobalHealth forum!