This is an archive of the Treatment Action Campaign's public documents from December 1998 until October 2008. I created this website because the TAC's website appears unmaintained and people were concerned that it
was becoming increasingly hard to find important documents.

The menu items have been slightly edited and a new stylesheet applied to the site. But none of the documents have been edited, not even for minor errors. The text appears on this site as obtained from the Internet Archive.

The period covered by the archive encompassed the campaign for HIV medicines, the civil disobedience campaigns, the Competition Commission complaints, the 2008 xenophobic violence and the PMTCT, Khayelitsha health workers and Matthias Rath court cases.

TAC/TAG's First Africa Region TB/HIV Advocacy Workshop

19-21 June, 2006

Over 70 activists from 22 African countries met in Cape Town for a workshop on HIV and tuberculosis (TB) advocacy from 19 to 21 June 2006.

HIV and TB Epidemics

Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have large HIV epidemics. TB though treatable is a leading causes of deaths in people with HIV, more so than any other opportunistic infection. Africa has many of the high TB burden countries in the world. In countries with TB epidemics, people with HIV have a 10% chance of developing TB each year, compared to 10% in a life time for people who do not have HIV. Consequently most countries with large HIV epidemics also have large TB epidemics.

There are several challenges to the successful management of TB epidemics in developing countries. Key among these is that TB is difficult to diagnose, especially in people with advanced HIV-disease. Nearly two thirds of people with HIV who have TB have extra pulmonary or smear negative TB which will be missed by the most commonly used diagnostic tool. The more accurate TB diagnostics using culture technology take up to two months to deliver results, during which time many people with TB and HIV will die without being diagnosed. The current treatment is cumbersome, requires four drugs for two months and two for six months at a minimum. The additional challenge is that the most powerful TB drug cannot be used with many HIV medications. These challenges in TB treatment lead to lack of adherence which can lead to multi-drug resistant TB. The prices of medicines for multi-drug resistant TB, which is a growing problem and ever present threat, are more than 100 times more expensive than first line TB drugs.

TB and HIV Treatment Links

Day 1

Overview of TB/HIV Concerns

Critical Issues in TB Advocacy and Lessons Learnt from HIV Advocacy - Lucy Chesire

The Effects of Tuberculosis on PLWHA - Professor Helmuth Reuter

TB/HIV 101 and WHO TB Control Strategy

"Don't Tell Me TB Is Under Control!" Understanding TB - Colwyn Poole

TB Control and TB/HIV Collaborative Activities

TB and HIV: A Tale of Two Epidemics - Mark Harrington

TB/HIV: What are We Seeing in the Communities and Clinics

TB/HIV: What are We Seeing in the Communities and Clinics - Mayowa Joel

L'Experience de Horizons Femmes - Denise Ngatchou

Day 2

TB Diagnostics

TB Diagnostics - Vinand M Nantulya

TB Treatment

Community Advocacy for New Tools and Strategies to Address TB/HIV: TB Treatment - Christo van Niekerk

TB Vaccines

The Status of Progress Towards New TB Vaccines - Hassan Mohamed

TB/HIV Operational Research

Integrating TB and HIV Services: Operational Research Issues - Eric Goemare

Day 3

Advocacy Panel

TB/HIV Collaborative Policy Advocacy Project in Sierra Leone - 2005 - Gabriel Madiye

Foundation Femme Plus Dans les Activites TB/VIH - Theresa Omari

NAFOPHANU Uganda - David Abang

Resource Mobilization

TB/HIV Monitoring & Advocacy Project - Eleonora Jiminez

Mobilisation des ressources pour le plaidoyer TB/VIH - Sylvanie Laure Djueche

Planning an Advocacy Strategy

Zimbabwe AIDS Network - Dominica Mudota

DOT/Adherence: Cape Town - Ria Grant