UN agencies warn that Africa's TB cases will grow as HIV spreads

The number of cases of tuberculosis (TB) in Africa -- already in the millions -- will double over the next decade as HIV continues to spread across the continent, the United Nations warned, calling for a concurrent effort to fight both infectious diseases.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) predicted that the number of TB cases in Africa will reach 3.3 million by 2005 and surpass 4 million shortly thereafter.

These alarming figures are contained in a report to be presented later this week at the Africa Summit on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Other Infectious Diseases, in Abuja, Nigeria. The report shows a 10 per cent rise in the number of TB cases on the continent each year because of HIV.

WHO and UNAIDS recommend a rapid expansion of a strategy known as DOTS, which uses community workers to ensure that patients are taking their TB medication. The agencies point out that increasing the availability of DOTS in Africa will have the added benefit of organizing community health systems for the future provision of anti-retroviral drugs used to treat HIV.