Soumya Swaminathan print      Biography   BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Name : Soumya Swaminathan Position Title : Deputy Director (Sr. Grade) Education and Training: Institution and Location Degree (if applicable) Year(s) Field of study Armed Forces Medical College Pune, India All India Institute of Medical Institute,New Delhi, India M.B.B.S, M.D 1980 1985 Medicine Pediatrics National Academy of Medical Sciences, N. Delhi Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, USA D.N.BFellowship 19861989 PediatricsPediatric pulmonology A. Research and/or Professional Experience 1985-1986 Sr Resident, Department of Pediatrics, AIIMS, New Delhi 1987-1989 Fellowship in Pediatric Pulmonology, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, CA, USA 1989-1990 Research Fellowship, Department of Pediatrics, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, UK 1992-1997 Assistant Director, Tuberculosis Research Centre, Chennai 1997- 2002 Deputy Director, Tuberculosis Research Centre 2002- till date Deputy Director Senior Grade, Head of Division of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis Research Centre Honours 1. President’s Gold medal for the best academic performance in the year 1980, Armed Forces Medical College, Pune 2. Kalinga Trophy for the best all-round outgoing student performance in the year 1980, Armed Forces Medical College, Pune       Abstract   Tuberculosis and HIV: Overlapping Epidemics, Multiple Challenges India has an estimated 5.1 million individuals living with HIV infection. The epidemic has become generalized in six states of the country. While other states are highly vulnerable because of factors like poverty, ignorance and migration. Anti-retroviral therapy is now available free of cost, through government clinics but the demand is far in excess of the capacity to deliver these services. India is one of the tuberculosis high-burden countries and accounts for one-third the world’s burden of TB. Over 60% of the adult population is latently infected with TB and there are an estimated 1.8 million new cases every year. By the end of 2005, the Revised National TB Control Program had covered a population of over 1000 million, making free and high-quality TB diagnostic and treatment services available. TB is the commonest infection in HIV positive individuals. At early stages of the infection when CD4 counts have not dropped, clinical presentation is fairly typical and response to therapy is also good. As HIV disease advances, the presentation of TB tends to become more atypical with more disseminated and extra-pulmonary forms and chest radiographs that can vary from normal to miliary TB. This has the potential to increase both under and over-diagnosis in health care settings in resource-poor countries. Though response to standard short-course anti-TB regimens has been found to be good, mortality during treatment as well as during follow-up is unacceptably high. Thus, patients with HIV and TB should be considered a target group for institution of anti-retroviral therapy. The challenge for the HIV and TB control programs in India is to develop effective coordination between the two so that TB patients get the opportunity to avail of voluntary counseling and testing while HIV positive individuals get the benefit of screening for TB and treatment if necessary. With improving access to anti-retroviral therapy, it will also be necessary to develop strategies to integrate DOTS delivery with anti-retroviral treatment.