HIV and TB: One Disease Speeds Up The Other

All TB patients should be screened for HIV, and all HIV patients should be treated for TB. Each disease speeds up the progress of the other. In 2013, there were 1.1 million HIV associated TB deaths.

“The first step is improved diagnosis,” said Dr. E. Jane Carter, president of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, and also a Brown University professor. “It’s clear that the sooner you treat both diseases, the better.”

Testing, however, is sporadic. In Kenya, 94 percent of TB patients are tested for HIV, a high rate in a country where Carter works half the time. At the other end of the spectrum, only 4 percent of TB patients in Pakistan get HIV testing.

Carter has a descriptive way to put TB statistics into context. Someone is infected with TB every second, meaning 3,600 people were infected during the course of her one-hour presentation to NPF journalists.

More facts on TB and AIDS can be found on the WHO website.

–By Sandy K. Johnson

This program is funded by Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Lilly MDR-TB Project and TB Alliance. NPF is solely responsible for the content.

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