Results of rapid and successful integration of HIV diagnosis and care into tuberculosis services in Benin.

Setting: Benin, where 20 of 54 tuberculosis (TB) clinics caring for 80% of all TB patients began providing integrated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) care in 2005.

Objective: To describe the characteristics and TB treatment outcomes of the first cohorts of TB-HIV patients, and to assess programmatic outcomes.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study using data from the TB register and the register of co-infected patients.

Integrating HIV testing and care into tuberculosis services in Benin: programmatic aspects.

Setting: Between 2005 and 2008, the diagnosis and care of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and tuberculosis (TB) services were integrated in Benin.

Results: The appointment of a TB-HIV Coordinator by the National Tuberculosis Control Programme and quarterly supervisory visits to TB clinics have bolstered the implementation of integrated HIV-TB activities. HIV testing and cotrimoxazole preventive therapy were integrated smoothly into the TB services.

Isoniazid preventive therapy for people living with HIV: public health challenges and implementation issues.

Isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) is recognised as an important component of collaborative tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) activities to reduce the burden of TB in people living with HIV (PLHIV). However, there has been little in the way of IPT implementation at country level. This failure has resulted in a recent call to arms under the banner title of the 'Three I's' (infection control to prevent nosocomial transmission of TB in health care settings, intensified TB case finding and IPT).

Cost and cost-effectiveness of a public-private mix project in Kannur District, Kerala, India, 2001-2002.

Background: Little is known yet about the cost-effectiveness of public-private mix (PPM) collaborations for the delivery of tuberculosis (TB) diagnostic and treatment services.

Design: We evaluated the cost and cost-effectiveness of a PPM project targeting private laboratories in Kannur district, India, from the perspective of the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP). We estimated the cost per provider recruited and retained, the cost per additional patient notified under various effectiveness scenarios and the cost per additional patient successfully treated.