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WHO report calls for free anti-tuberculosis drugs for AIDS patients

Fiona Fleck Geneva

A new report by the World Health Organization in the style of a glossy but hard hitting brochure aims to draw attention to the global tuberculosis epidemic that has been spurred by the spread of HIV and multidrug resistant tuberculosis strains.

The report, which was produced at cost price by Italian fashion group Benetton, was launched at an international AIDS conference in Paris on Tuesday by WHO’s Stop TB programme. It aims to underline the programme’s call for free anti-tuberculosis drugs, which have proved highly effective in curing tuberculosis in patients with HIV infection and AIDS.

Instead of pages of dry statistics and graphs, the new WHO report uses alarming colour photographs of people with tuberculosis and their life stories, interspersed with facts and predictions about the disease and its spread

Leopold Blanc, the coordinator of WHO’s strategy and operations for tuberculosis, said the aim was to show that tuberculosis is not a disease of the past but is on the increase and that those who develop the disease need better access to affordable drug treatment.

"Tuberculosis in many parts of the world today is like it was 60 or 70 years ago in Europe," Dr Blanc said, adding: "We wanted to show that TB is still a major problem."

The report shows how the spread of HIV over the past 10 years, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, has worsened the tuberculosis epidemic—countries such as South Africa and Zimbabwe now have the highest incidence in the world.

About a third of the 42 million people living with HIV or AIDS worldwide also have tuberculosis, and about 90% of those patients die if they do not receive proper treatment.

"Many people are talking about better access to antiretrovirals to treat HIV patients, but in many parts of the world most HIV/AIDS sufferers are dying of tuberculosis," Mr Blanc said.

The report also explains why it is vital for patients with tuberculosis to complete a course of treatment—some who stopped taking their treatment produced multidrug resistant strains, which take longer and are much more difficult to treat.

The report focuses on Estonia, the former Soviet republic, which in the past 10 years has developed the world’s highest incidence of multiple drug resistant tuberculosis because many people who cannot afford private health insurance are not treated, and some of those who are treated sell their medicines on the black market to buy food.

The Human Face of Tuberculosis can be accessed at www.who.int/gtb