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https://theconversation.com/test-and-treat-is-being-used-to-tackle-hiv-why-not-tb-179399>
"Worldwide, tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant cause of disease and
deaths. Around 9.9 million people had the disease in 2020. The burden is higher
in low- and middle-income countries. Africa accounts for 25% of TB cases.
TB is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Not everyone who
gets infected with the bacterium will get sick. Once infected, a person has a
5%-15% lifetime risk of developing active TB disease. Risk factors that
contribute to people’s susceptibility to getting ill with TB include HIV
infection, diabetes mellitus, malnutrition, alcoholism and rheumatoid
arthritis.
Based on my experience of researching and being involved in TB programmes in
Africa over the past two decades I would argue that TB control should take a
leaf out of the approach adopted for HIV.
In the HIV care field, the current UNAIDS strategy is to “test and treat”. This
approach involves widespread, community-based HIV testing. People testing
positive for HIV are immediately placed on antiretroviral therapy.
This strategy has two key benefits: protection from HIV infected persons
progressing to AIDS, and a lowered risk of infecting others. This, in turn,
will decrease the global HIV burden, and lead to improved health of the
infected persons and less transmission to the uninfected.
What if the global TB management community adopted a similar strategy?"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
