Study: PEPFAR focus countries saw significant impact on TB sickness and deaths

With tuberculosis both the most common opportunistic illness and leading cause of death for people living with HIV, the connection between the two diseases has been documented and observed. What has been less documented is the impact of increased HIV responses on tuberculosis rates in countries hard hit by both epidemics.

Now, a study in the Journal of Infectious Diseases published online this week shows countries that received the most intensive HIV-fighting responses saw greater drops in incidence of tuberculosis illnesses and deaths than countries receiving less intensive support. The study, Potential Impact of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) on the Tuberculosis/HIV co-epidemic in selected Sub-Sahara African countries, examined TB incidence and death rates, in the years before and after the heightened U.S. response to global HIV. The study compares data from 12 PEPFAR “focus” countries where the program made its largest investments to prevent and treat HIV, with data from 29 countries that with generalized HIV epidemics that received less direct U.S. funding to fight HIV.

Antigone Barton
Center for Global Health Policy
sciencespeaksblog.org
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During the Canada Post strike announced September 25, 2025, the following measures will be undertaken to minimize service disruption to BC-CfE clients and providers.

  • The BC-CfE Laboratory has transitioned to private courier for delivery of outgoing reports and documents. Results required urgently can be faxed upon request. (Lab Contact Information: Phone 604-806-8775; FAX 604-806-9463)
  • The BC-CfE Drug Treatment Program (DTP) will fax outgoing forms and documents to the provider’s office. (DTP Contact Information: Phone 604-806-8515; FAX 604-806-9044)
  • St. Paul’s Hospital Ambulatory Pharmacy has transitioned to private courier for delivery of medications. We recommend requesting medication at least 2 weeks in advance in case of delivery delays, particularly to rural/remote parts of BC. (Contact Information: Phone 1-800-547-3622; FAX 604-806-8675)

During the Canada Post strike, we recommend that documents be faxed or couriered to our sites, versus utilization of regular mail service

The BC-CfE Laboratory is streamlining reporting processes for certain tests in order to simplify distribution and record-keeping, and to ensure completeness of results. Beginning September 2, 2025, results for the ‘Resistance Analysis of HIV-1 Protease and Reverse Transcriptase’ (Protease-RT) and ‘HIV-1 Integrase Resistance Genotype’ tests will be combined into a single ‘HIV-1 Resistance Genotype Report’.
For more details and example reports, please click on the button below

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