People with HIV accounted for one quarter of TB deaths in 2012: WHO
Tuberculosis developed in an estimated 8.6 million people worldwide in 2012, according to a World Health Organization report. Of the 1.3 million people who died of TB, 320,000—or one quarter—had HIV infection.
WHO’s Global Tuberculosis Report 2013 details findings from 197 countries and territories that account for more than 99% of TB cases worldwide. TB mortality fell 45% from 1990 to 2012, and the target to reach the Millennium Development Goal of a 50% reduction by 2015 is within reach, WHO projects.
Among 22 countries with the world’s highest TB burdens, 7 have already met 2015 targets to reduce TB incidence, prevalence, and mortality and 4 countries are on track to meet those goals by 2015. But by 2012 global TB prevalence had dropped only 37% since 1990, and WHO does not expect to meet the global goal of a 50% drop in TB prevalence by 2015.
The proportion of TB patients who knew their HIV status rose from 40% in 2011 to 46% in 2012. In WHO’s African Region, 74% of TB patients knew their HIV status, up from 69% in 2011. In 41 countries with the highest HIV/TB burdens, more than 85% of TB patients knew their HIV status in 15 countries, and in 7 of those countries more than 90% of TB patients knew their HIV status.
Among global TB patients known to have HIV infection, 57% were taking antiretroviral therapy in 2012, a gain from the 49% taking antiretrovirals in 2011. About 80% of HIV-positive patients were receiving cotrimoxazole prophylaxis.
Whereas 3.5 million people enrolled in HIV care got screened for TB in 2011, an estimated 4.1 million were screened for TB in 2012. Among 1.6 million people who began care for HIV infection in 2012, a half million (31%) received isoniazid preventive therapy.
The WHO report lists five priority actions to accelerate progress toward reaching 2015 TB goals:
1. Reach the missed TB cases.
2. Address multidrug-resistant TB as a public health crisis.
3. Accelerate the response to TB/HIV.
4. Increase financing to close all resource gaps.
5. Ensure rapid uptake of innovations.
Source: World Health Organization. Global Tuberculosis Report 2013. Executive summary. October 2013.
For the Global Tuberculosis Report 2013
Source: IAS
