English

Espanol

Francais

日本語

Kiswahili

Global leaders urged to take action and save an additional million lives

ACTION

By: Jove Oliver

New York, NY - Advocates urged global leaders to act in response to new scientific modeling released today by the Stop TB Partnership, showing that between 2011 and 2015 it is feasible to avert over one million deaths caused by a dual infection of HIV and tuberculosis (TB). The modeling was released on the eve of the United Nations High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS in New York City.

"The world's most devastating viral epidemic and the world's most devastating bacterial epidemic have merged together, with each one fueling the other," said Kolleen Bouchane, director of ACTION. "We will hear soaring speeches from world leaders on AIDS this week, and they're important. More important, however, is that once the speeches are over, leaders return home and deliver the basic services that will save the lives of people in their countries."

The modeling, conducted by epidemiologists at the Stop TB Partnership and the World Health Organization, describes the anticipated result of more effectively diagnosing and treating people with TB and improving access to TB preventive therapy among people living with HIV. The model demonstrates that it is feasible to reduce deaths from TB-HIV disease by 80 percent between 2011 and 2015. The cumulative impact would be to save one million lives by 2015.

"This modeling shows that we can save a million people from an untimely death, and we can do it with technology and knowledge we already have," said Bouchane. "We've made historic progress against AIDS over the last 30 years, but the epidemic is evolving. We need to get serious about addressing HIV and TB as a single disease or we are going to lose both fights and millions more lives."

The modeling is released on the heels of a game-changing new AIDS study, which not only demonstrates that early antiretroviral HIV therapy (ART) reduces the spread of HIV by 96 percent, but it also dramatically reduces the risk of developing TB. Paradoxically, this new evidence comes at a time when governments have begun scaling back AIDS funding.

"U.S. global health investments must continue to follow where the evidence leads. We have the treatment and diagnostics, and now we have the evidence and modeling that demonstrates we can stop TB-HIV in its tracks." said John Fawcett, legislative director of RESULTS Educational Fund, host of the ACTION Secretariat. "Proposed cuts in Congress to global health funding are irrelevant to the deficit and would roll back the progress we've already made by allowing the dual epidemics to continue spreading."

Particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, the AIDS virus has teamed up with Mycobacterium tuberculosis - the bacterium that causes TB - to spawn a dual epidemic. One out of every three people worldwide carries a dormant TB infection, which awakens into contagious and often lethal TB disease when HIV weakens the immune system. Even though ART has made HIV/AIDS a manageable chronic illness for millions, one in four people living with HIV ultimately dies of tuberculosis.