Cheaper, indigenous diagnostic tool for TB likely in a year: ICMR

A Bengaluru-based company has made the new diagnostic tool for TB.

Zee Media Bureau

Hyderabad: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that an indigenous and cost-effective diagnostic tool for tuberculosis (TB) would be available in a year.

"A Bengaluru-based company has made the new diagnostic tool which is going to be more point-of-care and we hope it will be as good as GeneXpert test," ICMR Director General Soumya Swaminathan was quoted as saying to PTI on the sidelines of 17th International Congress on Infectious Diseases.

"If our evaluation shows positive result, then it may replace GeneXpert. The idea is to reduce the cost and have an indigenous diagnostic tool," Swaminathan said.

GeneXpert is a popular test for detecting TB that provides result in a couple of hours with minimal hands-on technical time.

She says that the evaluation will be over in the next three months and if it is found to be good, the diagnostic tool will be made available in a year.

ICMR is focused on research for better treatment strategies and diagnostics and is also working to speed up rapid diagnostics for TB, Swaminathan said.

ICMR is also working on developing vaccines for major infections, malaria and HIV. The phase-one trial for malaria vaccine should start very soon as the necessary approvals have been obtained, Swaminathan said.

India, with approximately two to three million TB patients, bears a  disproportionately large burden of the world's tuberculosis rates. TB remains one of the largest on India's health and wellness scale.

As per World Health Organization (WHO) Global Tuberculosis Report 2015, for the year 2014, over two lakh people died due to the disease in India in 2014, which is the highest in the world.