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It explains what information is held, how it's collected, who can see it and who can't, your rights and other details, showing that we take responsibility of your data seriously.

As with their 2017 International Conference, the ATS has kindly arranged for you to benefit from live streaming and/or recordings of some of the most popular sessions from the 2018 International Conference, sharing tremendous ATS scientific research and clinical care knowledge.

Details will appear on the APSR Noticeboard (apsresp.org/news.html) as soon as they are known.

The APSR and the ISRD (International Symposium on Respiratory Diseases) invite you to the 4th joint APSR-ISRD Session at the prestigious American Thoracic Society (ATS) International Conference in San Diego, to be held at 11:00-16:00, Saturday 19 May 2018 in Room 29 A-B (upper level), the San Diego Convention Center.

The session includes excellent presentations of top ranked scientific Oral and Poster abstracts submitted to the ATS Conference by young investigators in the Asia-Pacific region, selected by the APSR and ISRD.

Faculty will include:

• Prof. Chunxue Bai (ISRD President)
• Prof. Kwun Fong (APSR President)
• Prof. Yoichi Nakanishi (APSR Secretary General)
• Prof. Marc Moss (ATS President)
• plus speakers from China and APSR Young Investigators.

Please make a note of the day and we really look forward to seeing you there.

Sincerely yours,
Kwun Fong
President, APSR

We are delighted to announce the two APSR Travel Awardees for the ATS 2018 in San Diego, USA:

Dr Fukuda

• Dr Tatsuma Fukuda (Japan) for the paper:

  "Endotracheal Intubation Versus Supraglottic Airway Insertion After Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study"

Dr Mitchell

• Dr Alicia Mitchell (Australia) for the paper:

  "Transient Populations of the Human Pulmonary Virome are not Associated with Acute Rejection after Lung Transplantation"

Meet them at the Conference!

Dear APSR members,

On behalf of the Society, we would like to express our gratitude from the bottom of our hearts to you for your generous donations to the Asian Pacific Thoracic Association (APTA), the organization registered as the legal entity of the APSR.

As mentioned earlier, we are required to also have 100 donors during this second fiscal year in order to apply for the APTA's recognition. Therefore, we are now running the donation campaign again (1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018) and ask for your help for the APTA to achieve more than 100 donations of 3,000yen (US$40).

Cash donations are acceptable until the end of June 2018 by completing the online form at www.apsresp.org/members/donation/donation-input.php, printing it and then sending it by registered post with your cash donation to the APSR Secretariat at the address given on the form. Cash donations will be also gratefully received at the APSR booth at the ATS International Conference in San Diego, USA, 18-23 May 2018

APSR Member's Honour Roll

To publicly acknowledge and thank our teachers and mentors, there is an APSR Members' Honour Roll for those people who have made a big impact on our professional lives. The honourees nominated by members of the APSR are on the Membership Honour Roll of the APSR website; www.apsresp.org/members/honour-roll.php.

If you would like to nominate one or more of your teachers/mentors, please follow the instructions at www.apsresp.org/members/honour-roll/honour-roll-input.php,

Again, thank you very much for your great cooperation.

Kwun Fong
President, APSR

Yasutomi Yamanaka
Executive Manager

The KATRD held its 123^rd conference on 15 April 2017 at Lotte Hotels & Resorts, Busan. The symposium topic of the conference was "Hot Issues in Respiratory Medicine" and "Controversies in Respiratory Medicine". The 12^th Lung Cancer Symposium and the 44^th Workshop (Respiratory Review of 2017) were held successfully along with the conference.

Also in 2017 the KATRD opened "An Inaugural Assembly of Korean Pulmonary Rehabilitation Study Group Joint Symposium" on 4 February, "2017 Winter, Clinical Study Workshop Korean Molecular Lung Cancer Study Group" on 11 February, "Asthma Study Group & COPD Study group Joint Symposium" on 18 February, "COPD School" on 27 May and "Asthma School" on 23 September in Seoul for the education of young pulmonology physicians in Republic of Korea, which has been held annually. In addition, the KATRD opened a new "Lung Cancer School" on 16 July.

After the experience of the largest outbreak of MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) in 2015, the KATRD launched "Korean Study Group of Severe Infectious Respiratory Disease" in 2017.

For the awareness of COPD to the public, the KATRD held the 15^th Lung Day event on 11 October. The event was held successfully in Seoul forest along with a World Spirometry Day event.

For the control of tuberculosis in Republic of Korea, the KATRD has continued PPM (Private Public Mix) project with the Center for Disease Control of Korea Government since 2011 and now 124 hospitals in Republic of Korea are participating in this project to eradicate tuberculosis in Republic of Korea.

The official journal of the KATRD "Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases (TRD)" registered in Pub Med Central has been published only in English since 2012. Recently, the renewal of the journal website (www.e-trd.org) was done along with the electronic journal submission site (mc04.manuscriptcentral.com/trd) using the ScholarOne system of Thomson Reuters.

The 124^th annual conference of the KATRD was held on 9–10 November 2017 in Seoul.

The Asian Pacific Congress for Bronchology (APCB) 2019 will take place at the Gold Coast Exhibition and Convention Centre, Australia, 28–30 March 2019. It will attract about 400 participants from Australia and the Asia-Pacific region; a distinguished audience comprising researchers and clinicians in the field of bronchology and interventional pulmonology. The theme is "Case-Based Training; Practice and Theory" and it will have a novel design with a hands-on focus; workshops will provide the core part of the Congress.

This Congress will have particular relevance for trainees, fellows and consultant specialists. Case-based learning is a key part of modern learning methods and APCB 2019 will allow this type of learning to take centre stage. We are developing a stimulating programme designed to explore the latest developments, medical advances, cutting edge treatments and breakthroughs in the management of respiratory illnesses.

For more information, or to sign up to receive updates, please go to www.apcb2019.com.

There will be a special scientific meeting of the Indonesian Society of Respirology (ISR) (Pertemuan Ilmiah Khusus PDPI 2018) with the theme Current approach in respiratory medicine – Special issues in interventional pulmonology and thoracic oncology

Korean Academy of Tuberculosis & Respiratory Diseases (KATRD)

The KATRD held their 125th conference on 14 April 2018 at the Hotel Inter-Burgo Daegu in Daegu. The symposium topics of the conference were "Hot Issues in Respiratory Medicine" and "Controversies in Respiratory Medicine".

The 13th Lung Cancer Symposium and the 45th Workshop (Respiratory Review of 2018) were held successfully along with the conference. Recent updates in lung cancer treatment and liquid biopsy in lung cancer were presented and discussed during the Lung Cancer Symposium..

Recent new publications in the respiratory field, exacerbation in COPD, management of COPD, asthma COPD overlap, anti-fibrotic therapy in IPF, portable oxygen therapy, air pollution, vaccination, ICU infection, hospice care, and smoking cessation were presented and discussed in the KATRD conference.

The PCCP has 'gone beyond the medical confines in its quest to help improve the health condition of its fellow citizens'.

Read how they are helping to stamp out the smoke, in Regional health news, below.

The Philippine College of Chest Physicians Anti Smoking Initiatives

Cigarette smoking remains the leading cause of preventable premature morbidity and mortality worldwide (WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control). An average of 600,000 people die prematurely from tobacco-related disease in a year, which include one of every three cancers and one in five deaths overall^[1].

In the Philippines, 28% or 17.3 million Filipino adults aged 15 years and older are current tobacco smokers, according to the results of the 2009 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS). Around 48% or 14.6 million of adult males and 9% or 2.8 million of adult females are current smokers. Among the 23% of Filipino adults daily tobacco smokers, 38% for males and 7% for females.

The Philippine College of Chest Physicians (PCCP) has been working closely with the Department of Health in its initiatives to promote health and decrease tobacco related diseases. We have been in the forefront in lobbying for two laws: the Sin Tax Bill which was passed in 2012 and which provided for higher taxes of tobacco and alcohol products, and the Graphic Health Warnings Law passed in 2014, which stipulates the placement of images of the ill effects of smoking on the cigarette packs. The Sin Tax Bill has been shown to be effective in reducing smoking especially among the youth as well as providing funds for universal health coverage of poor families.

Our college is one of the group partners in the National Smoking Cessation programme of the Department of Health. On 9 June 2017, the National Smoking Cessation Quitline was launched, which is a phone and mobile-centered support service to help Filipino smokers quit tobacco.

Just recently, PCCP released the first edition of the Clinical Practice Guidelines in Tobacco Cessation which hopefully will provide guidance in the development and establishment of tobacco cessation programmes nationwide.

Other advocacy activities for lung health were organised by the college to encourage health lifestyle among Filipinos such as, 'Run for Lungs', 'Bike for Lungs' and the most recent one was 'Zumbaga', a zumba activity, held in conjunction with a mini lung health fair, the Kilusang Malusog na Baga last September 2017. We have also used performing arts as a medium for our advocacies through a musical play entitled 'Ang Kasaysayan ng Sunog Bagang si Juan' (The Story of the Charred Lungs of Juan) which aimed to educate the audience on the impact of smoking on a person's health as well as how it could affect his relationship with his family.

This year, the PCCP, once again, joins hands with other healthcare professional organizations, civil society organizations and youth groups to form the Sin Tax Coalition. This multi-sectoral coalition aims to push for an increase in tobacco taxes above the rates stipulated in the Sin Tax Law of 2012 (Republic Act 10351). The additional tax can lead to a decrease in the number of Filipino smokers of as much as 1 million by 2022 and the added revenue can support the Universal Health Care Program of the country.

The struggle to curb smoking in the Philippines lives on and needs to be carried on at all fronts. The PCCP has gone beyond the medical confines in its quest to help improve the health condition of its fellow citizens for this is part of being –'galing lungs!'

References:
[1] Philippine Clinical Practice Guidelines, Diagnosis and Treatment of Tobacco Use and Dependence 2017, Philippine College of Chest Physicians

• David Chi-Leung Lam (Hong Kong)
• Yun Wing Thomas Mok (Hong Kong)
• Philip John Thompson (Australia)

The APSR is profoundly grateful for their generosity.

Congratulations to the following members who have recently become APSR Fellows.

• Dr Shivanshu Raj Goyal FAPSR (India)
• Dr Nurfanida Librianty FAPSR (Indonesia)

A warm welcome to the following members who have recently joined APSR assemblies. They will undoubtedly enjoy working with and networking with their assembly colleagues.

If you have any news or announcement that could be of interest to other APSR members, please submit details to the APSR Bulletin coordinators: Dr David C L Lam (dcllam@hku.hk), Dr Shu Hashimoto (hashimoto.shu@nihon-u.ac.jp), or APSR Bulletin (bulletin@apsresp.org).