Why does TB Alert have programmes to cure people with HIV/AIDS of TB? Surely there is no point if they are going to die anyway?
Curing any patient of TB prevents them spreading TB in the community, and is always worthwhile (one person with TB untreated can spread the disease to 10-15 others in a year). Also, a patient with TB and HIV/AIDS lives longer if the TB is cured – perhaps long enough to get the HIV drugs which will enable them to live for decades longer.
