"What we need from that meeting is to come out of it with a common strategy to scale up efforts to systematically address HIV-TB co-infection," said Jorge Sampaio, the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy to Stop TB.

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"Scientific knowledge leads us this way. On-the-ground experiences lead us this way," said Sampaio, a former president of Portugal.

HIV making TB fight harder
Between 12 million and 15 million people are infected with both HIV and TB, or about one-third of all people living with HIV, Sampaio said. TB is among the leading killers of people with HIV, according to the World Health Organisation.

Of 9.2 million new TB cases in 2006, 700 000 people also had HIV infections, according to a report from the Geneva-based WHO released this month.

TB is an infectious bacterial disease typically attacking the lungs. The emergence and spread of drug-resistant germs have made treating it much harder and could make it even deadlier.

Sampaio said the HIV epidemic represents a "massive challenge" for the global control of TB, particularly in view of the emergence of drug-resistant TB. The HIV-TB forum will be held on June 9 at the UN building in New York. – (ReutersHealth)

March 2008

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Drug-resistant TB at record high
 

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