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Key facts about 2 often inter-linked global health challenges – TB & HIV

  • A total of 1.5 million people died from TB in 2020 (including 215 000 people with HIV). Worldwide, TB is one of the top 10 causes of death and the leading cause from a single infectious agent (above HIV/AIDS).1
  • TB is a treatable and curable disease. But multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) remains a public health crisis and a health security threat. 1
  • There were approximately 38.4 million people living (worldwide) with HIV at the end of 2021. 2
  • Over two thirds of all people living with HIV live in the WHO African Region (28.7 million). 2
  • Despite recent progress to reduce mortality, an estimated 650 000 people living with HIV still died from AIDS-related illnesses worldwide in 2021. 3
  • People living with HIV are more likely to develop active TB disease than people without HIV. 1
  • TB remains the leading cause of death among People Living With HIV (PLWH), accounting for around one in three AIDS-related deaths. 4
  1. WHO (TB)
  2. WHO (HIV)
  3. Global Statistics (The Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic)
  4. UNAIDS

DATURA

DATURA is a clinical trial. DATURA is registered in ClinicalTrial.gov : NCT04738812

DATURA addresses people who are co-infected with TB and HIV. It is a research project that aims to assess whether an intensified initial TB treatment could increase survivability in hospitalised, HIV-infected adults and adolescents compared to the standard TB treatment regime.

The DATURA project is a multidisciplinary international research project involving four countries in four different sub-Saharan regions, two countries in Southeast Asia and two European academic institutions. It is studying the effect of using a modified TB treatment protocol in severely immunosuppressed TB patients. The name, DATURA, is an acronym for: Determination of Adequate TUberculosis Regimen in Adults and Adolescents hospitalised with HIV-associated severe immune suppression.

The project is a collaboration between researchers in Norway, France, Zambia, Guinea, Cameroon, Uganda, Cambodia and Vietnam. It is co-ordinated by a research team at the Inserm Research unit UMR1058-PCCI in France. The project is funded by the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) and Inserm–ANRS. DATURA also addresses SDG Goal 3, target 3.3, aiming to end the epidemics of AIDS and TB, among others, by 2030. Learn more.

More background:

  • In sub-Saharan Africa, 20-25% of HIV-infected adults still present for care with CD4 ≤ 100 cells/μL.
  • Tuberculosis (TB) occurs frequently in these late presenters and remains the most frequent cause of hospitalisation and death.
  • These patients have an increased risk of severe/disseminated TB and reduced TB drugs plasma concentrations.
  • Overall, mortality is particularly high among HIV-infected hospitalised patients who start TB treatment. The mortality rate for this group can reach 30% despite the fact that they are receiving treatment.
  • Read more about DATURA

Learn more about the DATURA project: