Few HIV patients tested for TB

Only 1 percent of HIV-positive patients worldwide have been tested for tuberculosis, a curable infection that frequently kills those living with AIDS.

Screening tests for tuberculosis (TB) are inexpensive compared to the cost of the drugs used to treat HIV/AIDS. But still, due to a lack of awareness among patients and their relatives, HIV positive people continue to die of TB.

Researchers from the Advocacy to Control TB Internationally (ACTION) coalition reported that a mere one percent of people living with HIV/AIDS have been screened for TB. The report was based on World Health Organization (WHO) statistics according to which out of 33 million HIV-positive people worldwide, only 314,394 individuals had been tested for tuberculosis. Of those who had been screened, over one in four were found to have active tuberculosis.

The researchers noted that those living with HIV/AIDS are 50 times more likely to develop tuberculosis, than those who are HIV negative. Without treatment, approximately 90% of persons living with HIV/AIDS die within a few months of developing TB. This calls for an integrated approach towards HIV and TB cure.

The researchers recommend universal TB screening of all people living with HIV/AIDS and access to the 3 I’s - intensified case finding, infection control, and isoniazid preventive therapy.