Great progress has been made over the past few years in HIV testing in patients who have tuberculosis (TB) and in the scale-up of antiretroviral therapy. More than 3 million people in resource-limited settings were estimated to have started antiretroviral therapy by the end of 2007 and 2 million of these were in sub-Saharan Africa. However, little is known about what impact this massive public health intervention will have on the HIV-associated TB epidemic or how antiretroviral therapy might be used to best effect TB control. This article provides an in-depth review of these issues.
The Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Anzio Road, Observatory 7925, Cape Town, South Africa. stevelawn@yahoo.co.uk
