March 24, 2008

Rwanda’s Rise in Tuberculosis Infection Linked to HIV

In recognition of World Tuberculosis Day, March 24, Rwanda’s health ministry revealed that the country’s tuberculosis (TB) prevalence has increased 20 percent from 2004 to 2008; experts attribute the rise in TB to the country’s also-high HIV infection rate, Rwanda News Agency/allAfrica.com reports (allafrica.com, 3/24).

According to a speech by Health Minister Dr. Ktawukuriryayo Jean-Damascene given on December 1, World AIDS Day, the country’s HIV epidemic is leaving much of the population vulnerable to TB infection. Over the last four years, the number of Rwandans carrying TB rose from 6,367 to 8,014.

The World Health Organization’s most recent report on global TB, issued in 2008, showed that an estimated 1.5 million people died globally from TB in 2006. An additional 200,000 HIV-positive people died from HIV-associated TB that same year.

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