Credit: WHO
Tuberculosis is one of the commonest causes of illness and death among people living with HIV globally. One of the major problems is that TB is particularly difficult to diagnose in people living with HIV. We have to rely on an outdated, inaccurate test that is over one hundred years old and is especially insensitive in people living with HIV.
A new web site, Evidence-Based Tuberculosis Diagnosis, has been launched that aims to provide the most comprehensive single source of evidence synthesis, policies, guidelines and research agendas on TB diagnosis. It is also a source for complete up-to-date information on the current TB diagnostics pipeline. Standard operating procedures and package inserts for several tests also are available.
‘This is an essential resource for HIV implementers, activists and civil society alike that will keep them updated on the latest developments in TB diagnosis’, says Alasdair Reid, HIV/TB Adviser at UNAIDS. ‘Without a faster, simpler, more accurate TB test we will really struggle to stop people living with HIV from dying of TB’.
The website has been established by the Stop TB Partnership's New Diagnostics Working Group in collaboration with the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, the Global Laboratory Initiative and the Public Health Agency of Canada.
