TB Impedes Progress In AIDS

The deadly permutation of multi drug-resistant TB and HIV is fuelling the growth of TB epidemic across the globe subsequently slowing the progress in countering this highly contagious epidemic.

The two diseases have interacted in a fatal way, Tuberculosis is the most harmful killer amongst H.I.V.-infected people in Africa and there is a need to address them together, said United Nations officials.

“A delay in progress on diagnosing people with TB - between 2001 to 2005, the average rate at which new TB cases were detected was increasing by 6% per year, but between 2005 and 2006 that rate of increase was cut in half, to 3%, ” according to a WHO report titled "Global Tuberculosis Control Report 2008"

Most threatening complication of this much neglected pandemic is its airborne nature because of which it can easily yet acutely infect HIV patients.

The concern for the health workers was also addressed by the officials, the risk of getting infected with multi drug-resistant TB through needles and blood can result in lack of willingness or initiative to take care of HIV patients on the part of health workers.

“It is quite another thing if you are at risk by sharing air with patients with H.I.V. disease” who r infected with drug resistant TB, said Dr. Kevin M. Decoct, director of the H.I.V. department of the World Health Organization.

He further added that most often TB goes undetected because of the absence of symptoms hence this is also an issue of concern.

According to a WHO report, in 2006 including 700,000 cases amid people living with HIV, and 500,000 cases of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB), there were 9.2 million new cases of TB, 1.5 million people died from TB and 200,000 people died from HIV-associated TB.

WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan, said a slowing of process was seen in the report featuring trends of 2006 and MDR-TB was at its highest recorded level as per the last month’s WHO report

All forms of TB can be transmitted to anyone but if detected in early stage it can be cured whereas the drug-resistant TB is primary difficult to diagnose , even if diagnosed on time its difficult to cure and the treatment is very costly which besides everything is solely available in rich countries .

Dr. Raviglione and others stressed upon upgrading the health services in many countries to prevent the epidemic from spreading its tentacles wider.

Mr. Sampaio, the United Nations special envoy came to a climax by highlighting the need of the hour in his final words that “call for action….. the next inevitable step if we really want to control these two epidemics, because if we don’t do it, the economic, social and human rights situation will be much worse than it is today.”