Activists call attention to TB/HIV coinfection issues

Each year, 200,000 people die because HIV programs are still not integrating tuberculosis prevention and care into their work, and as a result, TB remains the biggest killer among HIV-positive people, experts estimated on the opening day of the 38th World Lung Health conference in South Africa.

“It’s a scandal in my mind that not all HIV patients are being screened for TB,” said Dr Paula Fujiwara of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, speaking at a press conference on HIV and TB.

“If we screened all people living with HIV for TB, we could save thousands of lives,” said Dr Alasdair Reid, TB/HIV Liaison at UNAIDS [1]Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. UNAIDS is the main advocate for accelerated, comprehensive and coordinated global action on the epidemic. .

The numbers of people with HIV and TB coinfection is still unknown, although the World Health Organisation has made estimates. The Stop TB Partnership believes that 600,000 HIV-positive people are infected with TB each year, of whom one-third will die.

Five thousand activists marched to the conference centre on Thursday night to present a global call to action against tuberculosis. They described the current state of TB/HIV management as unacceptable and inadequate.