Tuberculosis rates in South Africa’s Western Cape villages are among the highest in the world, due to a burgeoning co-epidemic of HIV and TB.
According to a new report by international health experts, the paired diseases, which first emerged 23 years ago, now afflict nearly one-third of the 40 million people infected with HIV worldwide, and without proper treatment kill 90 percent of patients within months.
In South Africa, overcrowded clinics are increasingly unable to diagnose or treat victims, a situation exacerbated by a spike in drug-resistant tuberculosis.
Source:
“HIV-TB combo to shake Cape townships”
Independent Online (South Africa), November 2, 2007