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

published on August 9, 2013 in sciencespeaksblog.org

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

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