Tackling the deadly duo of TB and HIV/AIDS in South Africa

South Africa ranks third of the 22 countries with a high incidence of TB. Patients with HIV are a whopping 26 times more likely to contract TB, yet there are significant challenges in diagnosing the disease in people with HIV. Funding, also, is a significant challenge. But there are signs that the tide is starting to turn. Late in July, the launch of a R1.2-billion Africa Health Research Institute in KwaZulu-Natal was announced, potentially making research data from the largest population study in the country available to tackle these two dreaded diseases. MARELISE VAN DER MERWE found out more.