Recent systematic reviews show that diabetes mellitus (DM) increases the risk and odds of developing tuberculosis (TB), especially in young people and in developing countries with a high background incidence of TB. There are no data showing that TB increases the risk of DM. The large dual burden of disease may make management of both conditions more difficult. High-quality implementation research is needed to assess the value and ways of screening for DM in patients with TB and vice versa, and to set up standardised systems of monitoring and evaluation based on the directly observed treatment, short-course (DOTS) model used for TB control.