TB and HIV
TB - the leading killer of people living with HIV
We live in a time of unprecedented hope for the 33.3 million people living with HIV worldwide. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) offers the promise of a full and fulfilling life. But a thief is in our midst. Every day, a thousand people living with HIV have their lives snatched away by tuberculosis (TB).
How can we allow this to happen? TB is preventable and curable with inexpensive medicines. It should not be a death sentence. Yet our efforts to stop so many unnecessary deaths are inadequate. Between 2011 and 2015, more than a million and a half people living with HIV will die of TB if we fail to act now.
We can save a million lives by 2015
We know how to stop deaths from TB among people living with HIV using tools available right now. So let's not squander the huge investment the world has made in improving the lives of people living with HIV by losing them to TB, a curable illness.
A scientific model, produced in partnership by the Stop TB Partnership, WHO and UNAIDS shows how we can prevent a million TB deaths among people living with HIV by 2015 by implementing simple strategies. These include screening more people for TB and getting them the treatment that they need.
Read the brochure: Time to act: Save a million lives by 2015: Prevent and treat tuberculosis among people living with HIV
In This Section
Fast facts on TB /HIV
- 350 000 people died of HIV-related TB in 2010, which makes TB responsible for one in four AIDS deaths
- People living with HIV have an estimated 20 to 30 times greater risk of developing active TB than people without HIV infection.
- An estimated 8.8 million people become ill with TB worldwide in 2010
- The highest rates of co-infection are in Africa, where 44% of TB patients were HIV-positive.