Via allAfrica.com, a New Vision report: Uganda: Main Cause of Death Among HIV Positive Children. Excerpt:
Tuberculosis (TB) is a major cause of death and illness among HIV positive children. However, medical experts are divided on whether to provide all HIV infected children with a preventive TB therapy using a drug called Isoniazid. (Isoniazid is a drug used to treat TB but has been found to provide protection from TB infection for HIV positive people).
The issue was a motion of debate at the 6th National Paediatric HIV/AIDs Conference held in Kampala from September 12-14.
Presenting recommendations for preventive treatment of TB among HIV positive children, Dr. Frank Mugabe the Ministry of Health Assistant Program Manager National TB and Leprosy Program told participants that Isoniazid Prophylaxis for Tuberculosis (IPT) reduces the burden of TB, the number of HIV/TB co-infected patients and reduces transmission of TB.
He pointed out that many people had not appreciated the importance of TB in the community yet Uganda is one of the 22 countries in the world with a high TB burden.
Globally there are about nine million people with TB in the world one million of which are children. There are two million TB deaths 250,000 of which are children.
