End the HIV and Tuberculosis Outbreak with Integrated Mental Health Care

KOMPAS.com – Experts say that integrating care mental healthwill significantly accelerate efforts to end the outbreak HIV and tuberculosis (TB).

This was expressed in a session held during AIDS 2022.

To note, AIDS 2022 is the world’s largest conference on HIV and AIDS held in Canada.

It said it would examine how mental health could exacerbate HIV and TB risk, and affect treatment outcomes.

Especially for the most vulnerable groups, and see what steps can be taken to better align mental health and HIV interventions.

Experts say HIV, TB and mental health conditions are closely related. This is because poor mental health is a risk factor for HIV and TB infection.

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People diagnosed with HIV and/or tuberculosis also have higher risk factors for developing mental disorders.

It is said that people living with HIV experience higher rates of depression.

In addition, people who have mental health illnesses such as depression, anxiety, or substance use disorders are less likely to seek help for testing and do not follow guidelines for what to do.

HIV patients are also reported to have a risk of death by suicide up to 100 times higher, compared to the general population.

At the 2022 AIDS session, researchers who have published their studies in the journal The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, The Lancet HIVand The Lancet Psychiatry, also discussed the need to harmonize mental health and HIV services for certain vulnerable groups.

Read also: HIV Patients Can Live a Normal Life, Myth or Fact?

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