Tuberculosis (TB)

TB/HIV

TB/HIV

HIV is the main reason for failure to meet Tuberculosis (TB) control targets in high HIV settings. TB is a major cause of death among people living with HIV. Sub-Saharan Africa bears the brunt of the HIV fuelled TB epidemic. The rapidly increasing HIV epidemic in other parts of the world could also increase the number of HIV-related TB cases. In order to control TB in high HIV settings, the Stop TB strategy includes collaborative TB/HIV activities. These collaborative TB/HIV activities have the objectives of creating the mechanism of collaboration between TB and HIV/AIDS programmes, reducing the burden of TB among people living with HIV and reducing the burden of HIV among TB patients.

Recent WHO TB/HIV publications


Time to act. Save a million liives by 2015. Prevent and treat tuberculosis among people living with HIV

HIV/TB Research Priorities


The consequences of inattention to TB research are not just embarrassing, they are tragic and shameful," said Dr Tony Fauci, Director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at a meeting held in Cape Town just prior to IAS2009. "Generations of research advances and technologies have bypassed the field of TB research. All of the great breakthroughs that we have seen in molecular biology - there was nobody working on it in TB. Nine million people develop active TB each year and yet we still don’t have an effective vaccine. There have been no newly licensed drugs for TB in forty years [with the exception of rifabutin]. The therapeutic regimens, although they work, are cumbersome and prone to the development of drug resistance. The diagnostics are ridiculous, they are antiquated, non-standardised and imprecise."

HATIP described in an article published in 2009, "HIV & AIDS treatment in practice", that TB research has long been neglected and under funded. But the participation of Dr Fauci, Nobel Prize winner Dr Françoise Barré-Sinoussi of the Institut Pasteur, and many others from the HIV research establishment was a clear sign that some of the world’s pre-eminent research institutions are finally moving to make TB research a priority. Read the full article: "Catalysing HIV/TB Research: a meeting report" by Theo Smart, HATIP


Recent WHO TB/HIV publications

WHO policy on collaborative TB/HIV activities: guidelines for national programmes and other stakeholders

WHO policy on collaborative TB/HIV activities: guidelines for national programmes and other stakeholders

Available in English, French, Russian and Spanish


Guidelines for intensified tuberculosis case-finding and isoniazid preventive therapy for people living with HIV in resource-constrained settings


Priority research questions for TB/HIV in HIV-prevalent and resource-limited settings

WHO/HTM/TB/2010.8


Meeting report: Accelerating the implementation of collaborative TB/HIV activities in the WHO/EURO region, 16-17 July 2010, Vienna, Austria

WHO/HTM/TB/2010.9


A guide to monitoring and evaluation for collaborative TB/HIV activities

A guide to monitoring and evaluation for collaborative TB/HIV activities

WHO three I's meeting

WHO three I's meeting report

Intensified Case Finding (ICF), Isoniazid Preventive Therapy (IPT), and TB Infection Control (IC) with people living with HIV

Report of a joint World Health Organization, HIV/AIDS and TB Department meeting, 2-4 April 2008, Geneva, Switzerland



Promoting the implementation of collaborative TB/HIV activities through public-private mix and partnerships


WHO policy on TB infection control in health-care facilities, congregate settings and households

WHO policy on TB infection control in health-care facilities, congregate settings and households.

Policy guidelines for collaborative TB and HIV services for injecting and other drug users: an integrated approach

Policy guidelines for collaborative TB and HIV services for injecting and other drug users:  an integrated approach

Improving the diagnosis and treatment of smear-negative pulmonary and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis among adults and adolescents



Management of collaborative TB/HIV activities:
Training for managers at the national and subnational levels

Book cover

Available in English and French


TB/HIV Clinical Manual

TB/HIV: A Clinical Manual (2nd edition)

Available in English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish


Guidelines for HIV surveillance among tuberculosis patients (Second edition)

WHO/HTM/TB/2004.339


Report of a "Lessons Learnt" Workshop on the six ProTEST pilot projects in Malawi, South Africa and Zambia, 3-6 February 2004

Available in English