HIV and TB: Amina’s Story
November 13, 2007
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Amina, here with her home-based caregiver Elizabeth, was 33 when this picture was taken in Tanzania on June 12, 2007. © Petterik Wiggers/Panos for the Open Society Foundations -
Tuberculosis decimated Amina's body. She lost half her weight. Medication and care could not overcome the head start the disease had gotten. © Petterik Wiggers/Panos for the Open Society Foundations -
Amina already had HIV, for which she was receiving antiretroviral treatment, when she contracted tuberculosis. No one referred her to be tested for tuberculosis until, months after she became ill, workers from the health organization PASADA discovered her condition and carried her to a clinic. © Petterik Wiggers/Panos for the Open Society Foundations -
Amina died two weeks after this picture was taken. Others like Amina will live longer if treatment programs for HIV and tuberculosis are closely linked. © Petterik Wiggers/Panos for the Open Society Foundations
The spread of drug-resistant tuberculosis is increasing at alarming rates, especially in areas with high levels of HIV infection. Open Society’s Public Health Watch is working on advocacy efforts that link tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS programs in the struggle to contain and reverse the twin epidemics. Such programs include novel approaches in southern Africa that train local villagers to become community health workers, and raise awareness of treatment options for people infected with drug-resistant tuberculosis and HIV.
The photographs in this slideshow were taken in Tanzania for Open Society as part of an advocacy campaign to highlight community-based health care in action.
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