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Improving Surveillance on Tuberculosis and HIV Co-Infection in Kazakhstan
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Tatyana Markabaeva1
Gayni Usenova3
Gulbaram Utepkaliyeva4
Guljakhan Akhmetova5
Lazzat Suleymenova6
Gaukhar Urankayeva7
Susan van den Hof8 , 9
Authors Info & Affiliations
Abstract
In Kazakhstan, tuberculosis (TB) patients are screened for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and HIVinfected individuals are screened for active TB. However, there is no exchange of case-based information between the TB and HIV/AIDS programs.
To assess the proportion of co-infected patients registered as such in both registers and to assess reasons for patients missing in either register, we compared 2009 data from the TB and HIV/AIDS registers from two areas in Kazakhstan. Almaty city and the adjacent Almaty oblast, represent 22% of the country’s population. Also, co-infected patients as well as a number of HIV-infected individuals were interviewed.
In total, 85 patients diagnosed with TB and HIV were registered, of whom 73 were registered in the TB register, 79 in the HIV/AIDS register, and 67 in both registers. In the TB register, twelve patients were wrongly recorded as HIV negative. Only 9 (11%) out of the 82 patients who started treatment (three died shortly after diagnosis) had been prescribed antiretroviral treatment.
In conclusion, gaps and mistakes with regard to TB/HIV patients were identified in both registers. Collaboration between the TB and HIV/AIDS centers was strengthened, which includes routine monitoring of TB/HIV diagnoses and treatment. This should lead to improved quality of care for TB/HIV patients and an improved insight in TB/HIV epidemiology.
