Assessing the impact of antiretroviral therapy on tuberculosis notification rates among people with HIV: a descriptive analysis of 23 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, 2010–2015

BACKGROUND: HIV is a major driver of the tuberculosis epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. The population-level impact of antiretroviral therapy (ART) scale-up on tuberculosis rates in this region has not been well studied. We conducted a descriptive analysis to examine evidence of population-level effect of ART on tuberculosis by comparing trends in estimated tuberculosis notification rates, by HIV status, for countries in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS: We estimated annual tuberculosis notification rates, stratified by HIV status during 2010–2015 using data from WHO, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, and the United Nations Population Division. Countries were included in this analysis if they had ≥4 years of HIV prevalence estimates and ≥ 75% of tuberculosis patients with known HIV status. We compared tuberculosis notification rates among people living with HIV (PLHIV) and people without HIV via Wilcoxon rank sum test. RESULTS: Among 23 included countries, the median annual average change in tuberculosis notification rates among PLHIV during 2010–2015 was -5.7% (IQR -6.9 to -1.7%), compared to a median change of -2.3% (IQR -4.2 to -0.1%) among people without HIV (p-value = 0.0099). Among 11 countries with higher ART coverage, the median annual average change in TB notification rates among PLHIV was -6.8% (IQR -7.6 to -5.7%) compared to a median change of -2.1% (IQR -6.0 to 0.7%) for PLHIV in 12 countries with lower ART coverage (p = 0.0106). CONCLUSION: Tuberculosis notification rates declined more among PLHIV than people without HIV, and have declined more in countries with higher ART coverage. These results are consistent with a population-level effect of ART on decreasing TB incidence among PLHIV. To further reduce TB incidence among PLHIV, additional scale-up of ART as well as greater use of isoniazid preventive therapy and active case-finding will be necessary.