What progress has been made in reducing TB in HIV patients?
The burden of HIV associated TB is greatest in Sub-Saharan Africa where the TB epidemic is primarily driven by HIV. This short article in the Journal of the International AIDS Society outlines how there has been steady progress made in reducing the burden of HIV in TB patients with an increasing number of TB patients tested for HIV and provided with cotrimoxazole preventive therapy and anti-retroviral treatment (ART). Less progress is being made to reduce the burden of TB in people living with HIV. The number of HIV infected persons reported to have been screened for TB was less than 1 per cent while Isoniazid preventive therapy was reported to have been provided to less than 0.1 per cent of eligible persons in 2006. The authors argue that a major push is urgently needed to accelerate the implementation of three important interventions. The three are: Intensified TB Screening among people living with HIV; the provision of Isoniazid Preventive Therapy; and TB Infection Control. The arti
