TB rapid diagnostics: Can we achieve transformation and bridge the access gap?

At the occasion of the ASLM 2023 conference organized in Cape Town on 12-15 December 2023 and under the lead of ASLM the TB-CAPT consortium organized the TB specific side event TB rapid diagnostics: Can we achieve transformation and bridge the access gap?

Together with selected experts from the field , TB-CAPT members explored the critical transitions needed to transform and effectively expand access to TB diagnostics, notably by leveraging key lessons from the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, disseminating best practices from countries and ensuring implementation of the new WHO standards for universal access to TB rapid diagnostics as a global accountability framework to benchmark progress.

Early lessons from the TB-CAPT project were presented to illustrate how implementation of decentralized testing can be achieved and how it impacts access to treatment at primary health care level, including lessons learned in terms of cost effectiveness and acceptability among users.

The session ended with a focus on existing and upcoming tools that can play a critical role in re-imagining TB diagnostics and further expand equitable access to WHO-recommended rapid diagnostics (WRD) to close the gap and increase access.

With more than 100 attendees, the symposium attracted an audience far larger than expected. This great perception of the event offered the perfect stage to also promote the latest recipe in the ASLM LabCoP Cookbook of Best Practices: Expanding Access to World Health Organization-Recommended Rapid Molecular Diagnostic Tools For Tuberculosis – Truenat as a Case Scenario.