PATHWAYS TO BETTER DIAGNOSTICS FOR TUBERCULOSIS: A GLOBAL PRIORITY IN RESOURCE LIMITED HIGH BURDEN SETTINGS

The global burden of tuberculosis (TB) remains enormous due to lack of rapid and accurate diagnosis and case detection. It is also
evident that improved diagnostic procedures will avert more TB cases. For the diagnosis of active TB, smear microscopy is a simple,
low-cost technique, which can be implemented in health facilities with minimum infrastructure in resource-limited settings. However,
smear microscopy has several limitations. The Current diagnostic techniques are either inadequate to detect TB cases with precision,
or are time consuming, expensive, and require highly equipped laboratories which are not available in developing countries, where the
disease is endemic. Lack of proper diagnosis costs patients and their families valuable time and money, delays treatment and leads to
continued TB transmission. Hence it is a critical time to expand access to better diagnostic tests for control of the TB pandemic as part
of a global effort. Recently many new techniques are available for the diagnosis of TB and also for the detection and identification of
M. tuberculosis. However, because of their high costs, requirement of instruments and trained manpower, use of such techniques in
the near future will be very limited in disease-endemic and resource limited countries such as India. This review describes some of
those promising new technologies that may be implemented in resource limited settings.