Tuberculosis and HIV coinfection and related collaborative activities in Latin America and the Caribbean

ABSTRACT

[ABSTRACT]. Objective. To inform about the most recent epidemiological trends and integrated programmatic response to tuberculosis (TB) and HIV coinfection in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Methods. A descriptive review analyzed the most relevant indicators on TB/HIV coinfection in 33 countries in LAC with a cross-sectional and time-trend approach. Data were obtained from publicly available databases and analyzed through simple proportions, weighted means, and risk ratios. Results. In LAC, during 2017, 80.8% of TB patients were actively screened for HIV, with a 25.6% increase between 2011 and 2017. In the same year, the proportion of TB patients with HIV-positive status was 11.2%, with a small but progressive reduction of 5% since 2011. The provision of antiretroviral therapy and anti-TB medication among TB/HIV coinfected patients for 2017 was at 60%. Only one-third of people living with HIV had access to isoniazid preventive therapy. Overall, the mortality in the TB/HIV cohort has not changed since 2012, hovering at around 20%. Conclusions. TB/HIV collaborative activities, as the backbone to address TB/HIV coinfection, are being scaled up in LAC and some indicators show a tendency toward improvement; nevertheless, our review shed light on the need to keep strengthening integration of service delivery, joint monitoring and evaluation, and data quality.