New laboratory diagnostic tools for tuberculosis control
Stop TB Partnership: Retooling Task Force and New Diagnostic Working Group
Summary
There is a lack of easily-digestible information available to national tuberculosis programmes, as well as to funding and technical agencies, regarding new TB diagnostic tools in the development and implementation pipeline.
With this in mind, this brochure describes 19 new or improved diagnostic tools, among the many such initiatives under way worldwide. Three of the tools described in this document have already been endorsed by WHO and are being implemented by countries, while the others are still under development or in piloting phase, and are expected to be ready for review for scaled-up use in the coming years.
The brochure represents as an interim document until a more complete blueprint of current R&D efforts can be developed. The purpose is not to recommend specific tools, but rather to provide summary information about tools being developed and becoming available, so that all who play a part in TB control, especially in national TB programmes, can make well-informed decisions when retooling.