At a landmark meeting, international leaders of government, public health and business sectors, UN agencies, and activist groups delineated specific measures that public health authorities should take to reduce tuberculosis deaths among people with HIV/AIDS.
According to a written statement, the HIV/TB Global Leaders' Forum marked the first time such a group has met to tackle the global threat of HIV/AIDS and TB coinfection. The group endorsed steps recommended by the World Health Organization, including screening patients for both infections and treating at-risk HIV/AIDS patients with isoniazid to prevent TB. "A six-month course of TB treatment costs US$20, and a course of preventive drug therapy costs US$2," the statement said.
According to the WHO, 250,000 immunocompromised HIV/AIDS patients die from tuberculosis each year, making it the single largest cause of death in that population.
Emerging strains of antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis are increasing the challenge, according to the WHO.
In a report from its April meeting, the WHO delineated its "Three I's" plan, which it had also emphasized in 2004: isoniazid preventive treatment (IPT), intensified case finding (ICF) for active TB, and TB Infection Control (IC).
These "are key public health strategies to decrease the impact of TB on people living with HIV," the organization noted.
"Implementation of the Three I's should be 'owned by' HIV programs and seen as indispensable as patient monitoring or cotrimoxazole prophylaxis," the report said.