The August 2023 LabCoP ECHO session is about World Health Organization's standards for universal access to rapid tuberculosis (TB) diagnostics.
Although WHO’s End TB Strategy calls for all notified TB patients to be tested initially with a WHO-recommended rapid diagnostic test (WRD) by 2025, in 2021, only 38% received a WRD as an initial test, and access to diagnostics was identified as a critical underlying cause. A significant consequence of the insufficient use of WRDs is the large gap in detecting resistance to anti-TB drugs. WHO-recommended rapid diagnostics are highly accurate, cost-effective, reduce the time to treatment initiation, and impact patient-important outcomes.
The new WHO standard sets benchmarks to:
• Achieve universal access to WHO-recommended rapid diagnostics • Increase bacteriologically-confirmed TB and detection of drug resistance
• Reduce the time to diagnosis The WHO standard comprises 12 benchmarks to be computed by countries in the four steps of the diagnostic cascade including:
• Identifying presumptive TB
• Accessing testing
• Being tested
• Receiving a diagnosis In this session, information about mapping of enablers, approaches, and solutions to scale up the use of WRDs is provided to assist countries in meeting the standard and related benchmarks.
Additionally, specific investment considerations are also provided, as well as two country case studies providing real-world examples of implementation. Presenter:
• Dr Nazir Ismail; Team Leader; Prevention, Diagnosis, Treatment, Care and Innovation Unit; Global Tuberculosis Programme; World Health Organization