Treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis is lengthy, insufficiently effective, and toxic. Since 2016, the World Health Organization has recommended shorter treatment regimens (STR). We assessed effectiveness and predictors of drug adverse events (DAE) among patients treated with STR. There were 95 consecutive rifampicin-resistant patients enrolled in STR in Tashkent between June 2018 and September 2019. Of these, 66.3% were successfully treated, 17.9% suffered failed treatment, 7.4% died, 5.3% were lost to follow-up and 3.2% were not evaluated. No recurrence was identified in 54 patients after 12 months of successful treatment completion. There were 47 reported DAE: the incidence rate was 6.15 DAE per 100 person-months-of-treatment. Any DAE was reported in 38 (40%) patients and grade 3/4 DAE were recorded in 21 (22.1%) patients. Median time to DAE was 101 (interquartile range 64–139) days. The most frequently encountered DAE were gastro-intestinal disorders, followed by hepatotoxicity and ototoxicity. The most commonly offending drug inducing DAE was protionamide. The dose was temporarily interrupted in 55.3% of DAE, reduced in 8.5% of DAE and permanently withdrawn in another 8.5% of DAE. HIV status was the only predictor associated with increased hazard of DAE. In Uzbekistan STR showed moderate effectiveness and safety, although treatment failure was high.

People living with the human immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV) have a higher risk of developing active tuberculosis (TB) disease, and TB remains a major cause of death in PLHIV. Uzbekistan is facing a substantial TB epidemic, which increases the risk of PLHIV developing active TB. Our retrospective cohort study aimed to evaluate the incidence rate and assess the risk factors for developing active TB among PLHIV. We collected secondary data extracted from medical charts of all patients, newly diagnosed at the AIDS Center in Tashkent, during the period of 2015–2017. The incidence rate of TB among PLHIV was 5.1 (95% CI: 4.5–6.0) per 1000 person/month. Adjusted regression analysis showed three major risk factors for TB, namely, being less than 15 years old (hazard ratio (HR) 5.83; 95% CI: 3.24–10.50, p value = 0.001),low CD4 count (adjusted hazard ratio(aHR) 21.0; 95% CI: 9.25–47.7, p value < 0.001), and antiretroviral therapy (ART) interruption/not receiving ART (aHR 5.57; 95% CI: 3.46–8.97 and aHR 6.2; 95% CI: 3.75–10.24, p value < 0.001, respectively) were significantly associated with developing active TB among PLHIV. Our findings indicate that taking prescribed ART without interruptions and maintaining CD4cell counts higher than 320 cells/μL are essential to prevent the development of active TB among PLHIV.