The Union's HIV Department joined international efforts to address the dual epidemic by launching its Integrated HIV Care for Tuberculosis Patients Living with HIV/AIDS (IHC) Programme in 2005. The concept of integrated care entails offering HIV testing and counselling to individuals with tuberculosis who are registered for anti-tuberculosis treatment with a national tuberculosis programme (NTP). This service is also offered to their family/household contacts, including children, as appropriate. If they are found to be HIV positive, TB patients and their contacts are offered integrated HIV care, including antiretroviral therapy. Working with national TB and AIDS programmes, The Union's Integrated HIV Care for Tuberculosis Patients Living with HIV/AIDS (IHC) aims to strengthen collaboration and build capacity of the countries' general health systems to deliver high-quality HIV and TB care.

The goals of IHC are to:

• secure political commitment for collaborative TB/HIV activities
• offer routine HIV counselling and testing for TB patients
• increase TB screening among people living with HIV/AIDS
• provide standardised HIV treatment regimens and regular patient follow-up
• improve recording and reporting for TB/HIV indicators
• strengthen logistics for TB and HIV
• implement patient and health systems-oriented operational research