tuberculosis

In 2017, tuberculosis caused an estimated 1·6 million deaths, including 300 000 deaths among people with HIV, and surpassed HIV/AIDS to become the leading infectious cause of mortality worldwide. Approximately 36% of tuberculosis cases each year (around 3·5 million cases) are not diagnosed or reported, which might have contributed to the increase in tuberculosis prevalence.

With only a year until 2020 – and the deadline to reach the 90-90-90 targets – South Africa is dangerously off track. Currently 7.1 million people are living with HIV in the country. New HIV infections remain high, according to the Thembisa model1 at 275 000 in 2017, higher than the 231 000 estimated in the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) survey.

OBJECTIVES: HIV infection has been associated with an impaired lung function in high-income countries, but the association between HIV infection and pulmonary function in Sub-Saharan Africa remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the relation between HIV infection and pulmonary function in a rural African population.

TB Data, Impact Assessment and Communications Hub (TB DIAH) is a new project that just launched a web-based, interactive data platform for global tuberculosis (TB) data users. TB DIAH is associated with the Global Accelerator to End TB, USAID’s new business model to focus on performance-based measures for combating TB.

Each year, we commemorate World Tuberculosis (TB) Day on March 24 to raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB, and to step up efforts to end the global TB epidemic. The date marks the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the bacterium that causes TB, which opened the way towards diagnosing and curing this disease.

The emergence and expansion of the multidrug-resistant tuberculosis epidemic is a threat to the global control of tuberculosis. Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is the result of the selection of resistance-conferring mutations during inadequate antituberculosis treatment. However, HIV has a profound effect on the natural history of tuberculosis, manifesting in an increased rate of disease progression, leading to increased transmission and amplification of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. Interventions specific to HIV-endemic areas are urgently needed to block tuberculosis transmission.