TB is the leading cause of death among people with HIV, accounting for some 208000 people who died from HIV-associated TB in 2019 and about a third of AIDS deaths
Integrated therapy is crucial for HIV-infected patients with TB. Many challenges are faced with concurrent treatment of tuberculosis and HIV - adherence, side effects, drug drug interactions, risk of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome.
Moreover, investments are needed in the RR-TB/HIV agenda to make available everywhere both ARV and TB second-line drugs, to reduce stigma learning from decades of HIV fights, to implement shorter all-oral effective and safe RR-TB treatment.
