What's the connection?

HIV/AIDS and TB are overlapping epidemics
TB is the most common opportunistic infection among people with HIV and is a leading cause of death among people who are HIV positive.  Worldwide 30% of people with HIV get ill with TB and in some countries it can be higher than 80%.

TB/HIV impacts on economic development and poses new challenges to health and social systems which increasingly have to address issues such as integrating HIV and TB services, facilitating access to drugs and treatment, and caring for infected people.

HIV means you are more likely to get TB.....
As HIV progressively destroys the immune system, there is a greater chance of a person infected with HIV developing tuberculosis.  

TB makes HIV worse...
The development of active TB accelerates the progression of HIV disease towards full-blown AIDS, because the replication rate of the HIV virus is increased during the active phase of TB.

BUT TB treatment slows down HIV....
There is hope as after treatment for the TB the replication rate slows back down to the pre-TB rate.

TB treatment keeps patients alive to get HIV drugs....
TB is curable, even in a person who is HIV positive. Curing an HIV positive person of TB not only improves their quality of life, and gives them several more years of life, it also reduces transmission to others in the community.  And, as more and more countries roll out HIV treatment programmes that few years might make all the difference.

Watch a short film about Winstone Zulu, TB Alert southern Africa Representative. Fight AIDS. Fight TB. Fight Now. January 2004. 10 minutes. A flash film co-produced by UNAIDS and the Stop TB Partnership. Windows Media* - Hi | Lo

Curing TB is cheap....
The World Health Organisation (WHO) cites TB treatment as one of the most cost-effective health interventions available - at a cost of only $10 for every year of life gained.

“Effectively treating TB will not solve the worldwide AIDS crisis, but it will significantly reduce its burden”
Dr Piot, Executive Director, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS

Click here to read about some studies regarding people with TB/HIV co-infection.