CD4 and tuberculosis: In 2023 alone, TB was responsible for a quarter of the 630,000 AIDS-related deaths globally.4 In the absence of antiretroviral therapy (ART), the risk of PLHIV developing active TB increases by 1.43-fold for every 100 cells/uL decrease in CD4 T-cell count.5 As such, early initiation of ART in PLHIV is critical for preventing progressive immune-suppression which predisposes one to the emergence of opportunistic infections, the most common being TB.6,7