UNAIDS Secretariat Joins ‘Stop TB’ Initiative, Stresses Close Links Between HIV and Tuberculosis

The TB epidemic - some of it HIV-related- is now also resurfacing in industrialized nations, where it
was once thought defeated. An additional danger in developed and developing countries alike is the
emergence of new strains that resist many antibiotics, and cannot be readily or cheaply treated.
In addition to affecting the poorest and most vulnerable, TB is a severe obstacle to development
since it frequently hits society's most economically active group - those aged between 15 and 54.
"The cost of inaction is high," Dr Pot warned.
TB, unlike HIV, can be treated and often cured. A simple strategy entitled Directly Observed
Treatment, Short-course (DOTS), has achieved cure rates of 80% and more and costs between US$
10-20 per patient. Untreated, a person with infectious TB will infect between 10-15 people a year.
TB, like the common cold, spreads through the air when an infected person coughs, spits or sneezes.
It can attack a number of organs but most often affects the lungs.
For more information, please contact Anne Winter, UNAIDS, Geneva, (+41 22) 791.4577 Heidi
Larson, WHO, Amsterdam, mobile [phone], Dominique de Santis, UNAIDS, Geneva, (+41
22) 791.4509 or Andrew Shih, UNAIDS, New York, (+1 212) 584.5024. You may also visit the
UNAIDS Homrne Page on the Internet for more information about the programme
(http://www.unaids.org).