"Which disease would you rather have: HIV or TB? I would rather have HIV," Professor Francois Venter from the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute told a stunned audience at the recent 42nd Union World Conference on Lung Health held in Lille, France.

The two-day workshop started yesterday at the University of Botswana (UB). Scientists, public health officials and physicians from across the world are attending the event to discuss the growing problem of HIV and TB drug resistance in Southern Africa.

Lille — The Global Fund to Fight HIV, TB and Malaria has more than halved the estimated amount of money available in its next round of funding, the disbursement of which has been delayed until 2013, due to the world economic crisis.

Years of treatment and mounds of pills are hard work for older patients with multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), but in children, treatment becomes a minefield for patients and doctors alike.

Lille, France - Dr Lucica Ditiu, the Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership, has called for greater boldness in the way that the world speaks and acts on tuberculosis (TB).

A sudden drop in reported cases of tuberculosis (TB) in the United States in 2009 could be explained by the economic recession, which slowed immigration and reduced access to healthcare, researchers reported in an article published online today in BMC Public Health.

Innovative tuberculosis control programmes in prisons have reduced the prevalence of TB, and successfull provided isoniazid preventive therapy and treatment for both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant TB, researchers reported at the 42nd Union World Conference on Lung Health held in Lille last month.

It's a device that can sniff out tuberculosis. A group of researchers from India and the US is developing the hand-held 'Electronic Nose', which has the potential to diagnose TB in symptomatic patients.

Uganda's national Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory will soon become a reference laboratory for the entire East African region.

Target TB has joined up with the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood (WRA) to raise awareness about the impact of tuberculosis (TB) on maternal and child health.