The Aurum Institute for Health Research is an independent medical scientific organisation for the treatment of and reserach into epedemic and other diseases in developing countries. The negative impact of the poor understanding and management of these epidemics is vast, affecting individuals, communities and economics. The recognotion of the huge advantages of controlling these diseases is Aurum's motivation.

TB control is failing in South African gold mines, despite well implemented TB control programmes that meet international standards. The failure of TB control is attributed to:

• A high prvalence of silicosis
• An escalating HIV epidemic
• The combined effect of HIV & silicosis, which is multiplicative

There is no good evidence to guide the choice of further intervention in this situation.