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AFRICA: WHO calls for TB/AIDS programme interaction

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

JOHANNESBURG, 31 July (PLUSNEWS) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called for better coordination of global HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB) programmes to be discussed at the upcoming International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Canada.

Doctor Mario Raviglione, head of the UN health agency's Stop TB programme, repeated warnings by former South African President Nelson Mandela during the Bangkok conference two years ago that "We can't fight AIDS unless we do more to fight TB."

In line with its recommendation, WHO has issued a 'Global Plan to Stop TB 2006-2015' detailing how programme interactions could help three million co-infected people benefit from antiretroviral medicines.

Raviglione stressed that besides research into new diagnostic and treatment options, "collaboration between TB and HIV communities to maximise access to existing interventions must be our collective global responsibility".

WHO research showed that tuberculosis was increasing at an annual average of 7 percent in countries with a high number of HIV-positive people.

[ENDS]

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