Patients with tuberculosis in poor countries must be tested for HIV

A new report by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) says that all patients with tuberculosis (TB) in developing countries should be tested for HIV. And if patients test positive they should be given antiretroviral drugs.

Without antiretroviral drugs (ARVs), patients infected with both HIV and tuberculosis are likely to die from tuberculosis or other infections during or soon after treatment for their TB.

The report quotes a study in Thailand that found that “88% of co-infected patients who received ARVs were alive after 3 years of treatment—compared with just 9% of patients who, before ARVs were available, received only TB treatment.”

It …