A lack of mutual trust among national HIV/AIDS and TB programs is threatening the lives of patients worldwide, experts said Friday at the 38th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Cape Town, South Africa.
"In some of the countries we are working with, there is jealousy between the HIV and the TB programs," said Paula Fujiwara of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. "In the activities we are doing with TB patients in getting access to HIV care, when [HIV programs] found that we could actually do something, they started getting a little scared as if we are taking over their territory."
Describing the situation as "scandalous," Fujiwara said many countries have tried to avoid the problem by setting up joint HIV-TB committees. However, she noted, "we've had quite a bit of difficulty getting them to meet, to talk together."
Panelists at the five-day conference, which ends Monday, said vital opportunities to offer better treatment and prevent unnecessary deaths among patients with TB and HIV are being missed.
"Up to half of reported AIDS deaths are caused by tuberculosis," said Alasdair Reid, HIV-TB advisor for UNAIDS. "Yet we know that in 2005 only 7 percent of TB patients were tested for HIV worldwide and less than one in 200 people living with HIV were screened for tuberculosis."
Screening all TB patients for HIV could lead to earlier detection and access to antiretroviral treatment, while testing all HIV-positive patients for TB could prevent thousands of deaths through early diagnosis and treatment, the experts said.
11/09/07
GLOBAL: Territorial Jealousy Causing Thousands of AIDS-TB Deaths: Experts
Source: Agence France Presse; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention