Communicable and non-communicable diseases: connections, synergies and benefits of integrating care
1.1 million people die from TB, 1.5 million from HIV/AIDS, 5 million from diabetes, 9 million from hypertension disease
Abstract
There is a growing association between communicable and non-communicable diseases in low- and high-income countries and amongst the rich and the poor. In low- and middle-income countries especially, adults continue to be plagued by communicable diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune-deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and tuberculosis (TB), while at the same time being increasingly threatened by non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus (DM). Recent global data show that every year about 1.1 million people die from TB, 1.5 million people die from HIV/AIDS, nearly 5 million die from DM and over 9 million die from hypertension-related disease. Most of this mortality is premature.1 Reducing these deaths on a global scale will require not only the implementation of specific treatments for each disease but also the recognition that there are important interactions between different diseases and useful synergies and benefits that can be gained from exploiting overlapping treatments and strategies. For example, there is a strong association between HIV and TB. HIV exacerbates the risk of TB, including recurrent disease, and increases morbidity and mortality in those with TB, while TB is one of the most important opportunistic infections and the cause of death in many persons living with HIV (PLHIV).
This research was supported by the UK Department for International Development’s Operational Research Capacity Building Programme led by the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease (The Union)
Citation
A. D. Harries, A. M. V. Kumar, S. Satyanarayana, Y. Lin, K. C. Takarinda, H. Tweya, A. J. Reid, R. Zachariah (2015) Communicable and non-communicable diseases: connections, synergies and benefits of integrating care Public Health Action vol 5 no 3 https://dx.doi.org/10.5588%2Fpha.15.0030
Links
Communicable and non-communicable diseases: connections, synergies and benefits of integrating care