A new high-speed test for TB is to be introduced world-wide, it was announced yesterday.
The test, which can give an accurate diagnosis in 100 minutes, was formally endorsed yesterday by the World Health Organisation.
The WHO said using the test could treble the number of patients diagnosed with drug-resistant TB – and double the number of cases identified linked to HIV.
Conventional tests can take up to three months but the new test, known as nucleic acid amplification test – or NAAT – uses DNA technology is a fully automated.
The manufacturer Cepheid has agreed to cut the price of the device by 75 per cent in some 116 countries most blighted by TB.
The new diagnosis system has been under "rigorous" assessment throughout the world for the last 18 months.
Dr Mario Raviglione, director of WHO’s Stop TB Department, said: "This new test represents a major milestone for global TB diagnosis and care. It also represents new hope for the millions of people who are at the highest risk of TB and drug-resistant disease.
"We have the scientific evidence, we have defined the policy, and now we aim to support implementation for impact in countries."
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