HIV/AIDS paves way for tuberculosis

The co-infection dimension of HIV/AIDS has been well known since soon after the virus came to light.

Tuberculosis (TB) in particular has been associated with HIV/AIDS as an easily transmittable disease for those who have the virus. Research shows HIV/AIDS patients are 50 times more likely to develop TB than the rest of the population. But unlike the focus on anti-retroviral drugs used to treat HIV/AIDS, the diagnosis and treatment of TB could be much better, say activists. "If you compare the number of drugs used to treat new strains of tuberculosis to the anti-retroviral drugs, it’s pathetic," said Haieyesus Getahun, a medical officer responsible for TB/HIV co-infections and drug resistance at the World Health Organisation.

Part of the problem is that TB is a disease associated with poverty and that activism and campaigns have been slow to develop. "The HIV movement helped increase the visibility of HIV but TB is basically a disease of poor people," said Getahun.

Particularly worrying for those involved in treatment is a new strain of TB which came to light in South Africa last year and which has a 96% mortality rate among those with HIV/AIDS. The new strain is difficult to identify especially in under-equipped laboratories in Africa, Getahun adds.

The result is that patients on anti-retroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS are dying of TB. Getahun and the organisation he is involved in, the Stop TB Partnership, are trying to raise awareness about the disease. "In Africa if you are working on HIV/AIDS without addressing TB, it is unacceptable," he says. More funding and research needs to go into TB with better focusing of donor aid on organisations such as the WHO, which provide technical assistance.

The co-infection dimension of HIV/AIDS has been well known since soon after the virus came to light.