The use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has led to dramatic reductions in morbidity and mortality in HIV patients. However, tuberculosis (TB) remains a common opportunistic infections and a major cause of death among patients with HIV, especially in sub-Saharan African and Asian countries, where there is a high background prevalence of TB.

The risk of TB in HIV-infected patients and the impact of TB diagnosis on disease progression in HIV infected patients have been well described in Africa. The Asia-Pacific region has a large burden of both tuberculosis, with nearly 5 million prevalent cases and over 3 million new cases in 2006, and HIV, with an estimated 5 million people living with HIV and 380,000 new infections occurring in 2007. It is estimated that 2.5 million people are living with both infections in the region. Despite the importance of these inter-related epidemics in the region, few studies have evaluated the risk of TB or its prognostic impact in patients with HIV.

Using data from The TREAT Asia HIV Observational Database (TAHOD), a multicentre prospective cohort study involving 17 clinical sites in the Asia-Pacific region, this paper aims to assess:

1) The risk of, and factors associated with, TB diagnosis among TAHOD patients with prospective follow up;

2) The prognostic significance of TB diagnosis on overall survival.