WHO reports more than 900,000 lives saved because of HIV/TB care and prevention guidelines, releases updated version

"An estimated 910,000 lives were saved globally in six years due to guidelines intended to ensure that people living with HIV/AIDS are protected from tuberculosis [TB], the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) said today, releasing an updated policy on joint prevention, diagnosis and treatment of both diseases," the U.N. News Centre reports (3/2). "The number of HIV-positive people screened for TB rose almost 12-fold, from nearly 200,000 in 2005 to more than 2.3 million in 2010, the WHO said, as it released data on the impact of its 2004 guidelines on TB and HIV," Reuters reports (3/2).

"'This framework is the international standard for the prevention, care and treatment of TB and HIV patients to reduce deaths; and we have strong evidence that it works,' said Dr. Mario Raviglione, WHO director of the Stop TB Department," a WHO press release states (3/5). "According to the WHO, the main elements of the new policy include: routine HIV testing for TB patients, people with symptoms of TB, and their partners or family members; and the provision of co-trimoxazole, a cost-effective medicine to prevent against lung or other infections for all TB patients who are infected with HIV," PANA/Afrique en ligne writes (3/2).