For People Living With HIV/AIDS, TB Is Still the Leading Cause of Death
On World AIDS Day, the Forum of International Respiratory Societies Highlights the Need for a Global Response to the Crisis
December 1, 2024
Glenview, IL –The latest
World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Tuberculosis (TB) Report
Report
released in November painted a sobering picture; approximately 8.2
million people were newly diagnosed with TB in 2023, the highest number
since the organization began global TB monitoring in 1995. TB is the
leading cause of death among those with HIV/AIDS worldwide. According to
the WHO, in 2023, 161,000 people died of HIV-associated TB.
This World AIDS Day, the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST)
and Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) partners call on
governments, health advocates, and nongovernment organizations to
strengthen their response to AIDS and
TB. This collaborative effort is necessary to help realize the WHO’s goal
of ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
In the developing world, TB is often the first sign a person has HIV.
Yet, about half of the people living with HIV and TB are unaware of
their coinfection and, therefore, not receiving appropriate care that
could prevent not only serious illness but death, according to WHO.
Shortly after AIDS emerged, it fueled a global resurgence of TB that
continues in many low- and middle-income countries. The WHO African
Region has the
highest burden of HIV-associated TB. People living with HIV are 16 times more likely to fall ill with TB
compared with people without HIV.
HIV increases the risk of other infectious respiratory diseases,
including Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia and bacterial pneumonia, both
of which can be life-threatening.
Education, prevention strategies, and new medicines, particularly
antiretroviral therapies, have reduced the number of AIDS-related deaths
by 69% since the peak in 2004.
FIRS believes a global response to HIV/AIDS can be strengthened by:
• Increasing awareness of the continuing global threat of
HIV-related disease and its link to TB and other respiratory diseases.
• Improving the health outcomes of people living with HIV through
patient care and research into better prevention, early diagnosis, and
effective treatment strategies for both HIV and TB, including rapid
diagnosis and treatment for multidrug-resistant TB that is harder to
cure.
• Reducing the incidence and severity of HIV-related disease by
strengthening mother-to-child transmission prevention programs and
increasing the early use of antiretroviral therapy.
• Improving HIV education in at-risk communities to reduce the
incidence of new HIV infections.
• Reducing HIV-related health disparities and inequities.
About the American College of Chest Physicians
The American College of Chest Physicians® (CHEST) is the global leader
in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of chest diseases. Its
mission is to champion advanced clinical practice, education,
communication, and research in chest medicine. It serves as an essential
connection to clinical knowledge and resources for its 22,000+ members
from around the world who provide patient care in pulmonary, critical
care, and sleep medicine. For information about the American College of
Chest Physicians and its family of journals, including the flagship
journal CHEST®,
visit chestnet.org.
About the Forum of International Respiratory Societies
The Forum of International Respiratory Societies
(FIRS) is an organization comprised of the world's leading international
respiratory societies working together to improve lung health
globally. The goal of FIRS is to unify and enhance efforts to improve
lung health through the combined work of its more than 70,000 members
globally.
FIRS comprises the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST),
American Thoracic Society (ATS), the Asian Pacific Society of
Respirology (APSR), Asociación Latinoamericana de Tórax (ALAT), European
Respiratory Society (ERS), International Union Against Tuberculosis and
Lung Disease (The Union), Pan African Thoracic Society (PATS), the
Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), and the Global Initiative for
Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD).
The Global Impact of Respiratory Disease
report outlines major causes of respiratory disease and lays out
recommendations for global action.