Facilitating implementation of TB testing
TB-CAPT (Close the gap, increase Access, Provide adequate Therapy) will provide evidence for impactful implementation of tuberculosis (TB) and TB/HIV co-infection diagnostic strategies including drug-susceptibility testing through a series of trials in Tanzania, Mozambique, and South Africa.
TB-CAPT is funded by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) and will run for 5 years, with planned completion in 2024.
There is an urgent need for TB tools and diagnostic technologies that can not only detect disease but can also identify strains that are resistant to the available TB treatments. Next generation tests need to be placed at the point-of-care at microscopy centre level, fully integrated into the diagnostic and treatment network, connectivity enabled, more sensitive, and able to perform expanded drug susceptibility testing (DST). TB-CAPT’s clinical trials are designed to take local epidemiology and existing infrastructure into consideration and will compare new strategies with current standards of care.
Core activities overview
Work in TB-CAPT is structured around five activity pillars: the TB-CAPT CORE trial, the TB-CAPT XDR trial, the TB-CAPT HIV trial, Capacity building, and Dissemination. These pillars are embedded in a robust management structure with FIND being the overall project coordinator, and LINQ supporting FIND and the whole consortium as the project management partner, safeguarding a smooth implementation.
Pillar 1 – the TB-CAPT CORE trial
Potential impact of using the Molbio MTB assays on the Truenat platform in the most peripheral level of healthcare
Lead
Katharina Kranzer, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU)
Pillar 2 – the TB-CAPT XDR trial
Better diagnosis and quicker initiation of treatment for patients with different types of drug resistance
Lead
Helen Cox, University of Cape Town (UCT)
Pillar 3 – the TB-CAPT HIV trial (EXULTANT)
Looking at the added value of expanded diagnostic testing for people living with HIV (PLHIV)
Lead
Alberto García-Basteiro, Fundación Privada Instituto de Salud Global Barcelona (ISGlobal) and Centro de Investigacao em Saude de Manhica (CISM)
Pillar 4 – TB-CAPT Capacity Building
Laying the foundation for the research of the future
Lead
Klaus Reither, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (SwissTPH)
Pillar 5 – TB-CAPT Dissemination
Making sure that results are translated into policy quickly
Lead
Marguerite Massinga, African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM)
Team
The TB-CAPT consortium is comprised of 14 leading organisations from 8 countries that all work together to achieve a common goal: to improve TB diagnostics and stem the tide of the disease. The group has a vast background and expertise in the design, execution and management of large-scale TB diagnostics trials leading to WHO-endorsements, including data management, analysis and modelling, operational research as well as implementation studies and test rollout.
TB-CAPT is coordinated by FIND, the global alliance for diagnostics, supported by LINQ management GmbH (LINQ).
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