Today is the first day of December. You know what that means—there’s only 24 days left to buy Christmas presents.

And it’s also World AIDS Day.

You probably didn’t know that. I didn’t.

There’s one important factor in the AIDS epidemic that doesn’t get much attention. Tuberculosis has become an epidemic in many parts of the developing world where HIV infection rates are high.

It’s happening in concert with the HIV/AIDS epidemic, says UNAIDS, a United Nations program on combatting HIV/AIDS, which considers them to be co-epidemics.

With the global economy sinking into an ecomomic recession, advocay groups are fearing the worst. A cut in funding from the Canadian government would affect the 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide.

Here are some more figures from ACTION, an advocay group dedicated to eradicating TB worldwide:

50% of people with HIV/AIDS die from tuberculosis in developing countries

80% of people infected with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis live in Africa

This may lead one to think that one epidemic is fuelling the other. According to ACTION, people are living with AIDS and dying of TB. The head-way that’s been made in managing AIDS/HIV has been undercut by the resurgence of TB, say ACTION.

Results Canada, a memember of ACTION, will release a report in January on the fight against the HIV/TB co-epidemic. They are lobbying the government to increase aid for HIV/AIDS, saying that funding has been cut in half between 2005 and 2007.