Health 
Tuberculosis follows footsteps of AIDS in Africa 

HIV and TB are closely linked. Testing in a number of developing countries shows that up to 70% of TB patients are infected with HIV. In addition, up to 50% of people living with HIV can expect to develop TB. Worldwide, 36.1 million people are infected with HIV and 95% of them live in developing countries, where TB rates are highest. About 13 million people are infected with both HIV and the germ that causes TB.

TB is a leading killer of people living with HIV and it is highest in countries with the highest rates of HIV. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN HIV/AIDS agency (UNAIDS) predict that the number of TB cases in Africa will reach 3.3 million by 2005 and surpass 4 million shortly thereafter. 

These alarming figures are contained in a report to be presented later this week at the Africa Summit on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Other Infectious Diseases, in Abuja, Nigeria. The report shows a 10 per cent rise in the number of TB cases on the continent each year because of HIV.

- There is an urgent need to address TB and HIV together, said Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS. "Reducing transmission of HIV will reduce the epidemic of TB."

- Tuberculosis is a leading killer of people living with HIV/AIDS, observed WHO Director-General Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland. She noted that up to 50 per cent of people with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa develop TB. "This is one of the reasons why the control of TB and HIV in Africa is so interdependent."

TB, unlike HIV, can be cured, even in people with HIV infection. A simple strategy called DOTS cures most people with TB and the drug costs as little as US$ 10-15 per patient. Untreated, a single person with contagious TB can infect between 10-15 people a year. 

WHO and UNAIDS today recommended a rapid expansion of DOTS, which uses community workers to ensure that patients are taking their TB medication. The agencies point out that increasing the availability of DOTS in Africa will have the added benefit of organizing community health systems for the future provision of anti-retroviral drugs used to treat HIV.

A report released on World TB Day 2001, on 24 March, 'DOTS: TB cure for all', calls for equitable and discrimination-free access to adequate treatment and services for anyone who has TB. TB hits hardest in areas of the world where access to treatment is an unaffordable luxury. The poor are made even poorer by TB as people fall sick and income is lost in marginal households. "Effectively treating TB will not solve the worldwide AIDS crisis, but it will significantly reduce its burden," thus noted Dr. Piot.

Both Dr. Piot and Dr. Brundtland will attend the Abuja Summit, where UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is expected to make a major address outlining key priorities in the fight against AIDS. A spokesman for Mr. Annan said today that the Secretary-General was scheduled to arrive in Abuja on Wednesday, following a brief personal visit to his home country, Ghana.

In his speech on Thursday, the Secretary-General is expected to call for a major mobilization of political will and resources commensurate with the enormity of the AIDS crisis. According to UN officials, he will focus on priority aspects of the battle against AIDS, including prevention, care and treatment. 

Sources: UNAIDS, WHO and afrol archives

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