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Why New Drugs Now?
TB-HIV




"We cannot win the battle against AIDS if we do not also fight TB. TB is too often a death sentence for people with AIDS. It does not have to be this way."
- Nelson Mandela
Former President of South Africa
TB-HIV Resources > UNAIDS TB-HIV Information > Stop TB Partnership TB-HIV Working Group Fact Sheet > Global Leaders Forum HIV-TB Fact Sheet [.pdf - 141kb]

Multimedia Resources > Short video on TB-HIV patient advocate Winstone Zulu [requires quicktime]

TB-HIV

One-third of the more than 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS are also infected with tuberculosis.

TB is one of the most common opportunistic infections associated with HIV's attack on the immune system: people with HIV/AIDS are more likely to contract TB and more susceptible to active infection. At the same time, TB bacteria can hasten the progression of an HIV infection, causing patients to become sicker more rapidly.



TB is the leading infectious killer of people with HIV/AIDS, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where it causes up to half of all AIDS deaths. TB-HIV co-infections are also on the rise in other areas of the world, particularly Asia and Eastern Europe. In 2005, 2.7 million people were newly infected with HIV/AIDS. As long as HIV/AIDS continues to spread, TB will remain a constant and deadly threat.

Anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy is today's most effective, available treatment option for controlling the progression of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Unfortunately, drug-drug interactions between the current first-line TB regimen and certain commonly used ARVs complicate treatment for co-infected patients. Rifampin, a cornerstone of the current TB regimen, induces the enzyme cytochrome P450. Cytochrome P450 causes some AIDS drugs to be metabolized too quickly, inhibiting effective ARV therapy. People with HIV/AIDS who contract TB must sometimes change their ARV regimens to avoid this dangerous interaction, or delay needed ARV treatment until their TB is under control.



New TB drugs, developed to avoid ARV interactions, are essential to treat the growing number of people dually infected with TB and HIV. A faster, better regimen would also speed time to cure for patients severely weakened by the deadly co-infection.