PEPFAR blueprint for an AIDS-free generation identifies TB/HIV as a top priority
29 November 2012 – Washington DC – Today US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton unveiled the PEPFAR Blueprint, which provides a roadmap for how the US Government will work to help achieve an AIDS-free generation.
The roadmap identifies “smart investments” that PEPFAR will prioritize based on evidence indicating they will save the most lives, and specifies six action steps.
The first action step is: Target HIV-associated tuberculosis and reduce co-morbidity and mortality.
“Tuberculosis (TB) remains the most common cause of death among people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa,” the roadmap notes. “According to the Stop TB Partnership, more than 1,000 people infected with HIV die every day from tuberculosis. Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS constitute a deadly combination that speeds the progression of illness and death. Nothing makes a person more vulnerable to developing TB disease than the presence of HIV,” it continues.
The roadmap goes on to specify the steps needed to end HIV-associated TB among people living with HIV: a combination of widespread ART coverage, early identification and treatment of TB, isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT), and infection control activities.
“We congratulate PEPFAR for this bold roadmap and on their recognition that we cannot achieve an AIDS-free generation without confronting TB and reaching with equal zeal for zero TB deaths and zero new TB infections – along with zero new HIV infections and zero AIDS-related deaths,” said Dr Lucica Ditiu, Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership.
Read more about saving lives from TB/HIV
Source: Stop TB Partnership
