The global war on Aids could be lost if the world ignores tuberculosis (TB), former South African president Nelson Mandela said today.
"The world has made defeating Aids its top priority. This is a blessing, but TB remains ignored," the frail Nobel laureate and Aids campaigner told reporters at a global conference in Bangkok.
About 14 million people are infected with HIV and TB, with about 70 per cent living in sub-Saharan Africa, the region hardest hit by HIV/Aids, which has killed 20 million people worldwide. TB kills about two million people each year.
HIV, the virus which causes Aids, destroys the immune system and makes patients more vulnerable to diseases such as TB, an infectious respiratory illness which accounts for up to one third of all HIV/Aids deaths worldwide.
"We cannot win the battle against Aids if we do not also fight TB. TB is too often a death sentence for people with Aids. It does not have to be this way," Mr Mandela said.
Mr Mandela battled TB during his 27-year jail sentence for fighting apartheid.
Mr Mandela, a fierce critic of US foreign policy in recent years, is to speak tomorrow at the closing of a conference where Washington has been criticised for its Aids policies and for rejecting UN calls to give more money to a global Aids fund.
Research into the dual tuberculosis and Aids epidemic got a boost today with a $45 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The philanthropic organisation set up by Microsoft chairman Mr Bill Gates said the money would fund studies into strategies to control TB in areas with high HIV infection rates.