India is moving towards universal access for quality TB care and has the power to become a global leader in TB research and innovation, as well as in manufacturing of essential anti-TB drugs and TB diagnostics, said Dr Vishwa Mohan Katoch, director-general of Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR).
The country with the world's fastest growing pharmaceutical industry has a huge potential to become a global frontrunner in biotech, medical and public health research. It also has a compelling incentive to mobilize these assets to thwart TB. It is the country with the highest number of people with TB in the world - 2 million new cases each year of a total approximately 9 million worldwide, he added.
Priorities in Operational Research to Improve Tuberculosis Care and Control, launched today by the Stop TB Partnership, WHO and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has now provided a roadmap for TB programmes and scientific institutions to do the necessary research to make good decisions.
The country is also committed to the goals of the Stop TB Partnership's Global Plan to Stop TB 2011-2015, which seeks to halve TB deaths by increasing the number of people tested and treated through research. The cost of the plan is an estimated US$ 47 billion. The current funding gap is approximately US$ 20 billion.
Global experts have comprehended India’s capability and chosen the country as the venue for two key international gatherings-- one just concluded in Bangalore at the St. John’s Hospital and the other in New Delhi.
In Bangalore, experts have focused on India's potential to lead the world in developing urgently needed innovations on TB diagnosis.
In Delhi, the Stop TB Partnership is thrashing out strategies to address global shortages in quality-assured TB drugs and launching a new guide aimed at helping scientists and public health programmes conduct needed research on how to improve the quality and reach of TB care.
“We are here this week not only to look at global issues on TB but also to encourage Indian government and people to fulfill a great destiny. India is a rising giant. I believe it can be a Titan on TB,” says Dr Lucica Ditiu, executive of the Stop TB Partnership.
In most parts of the world, TB is still diagnosed using a microscope, just as it has been done for more than a century. A new cutting-edge TB diagnostic called Xpert MTB/RIF, which was recently certified by the World Health Organization (WHO), can diagnose 30 per cent more tuberculosis patients than the current test performed by microscopy.
“This is an important scientific advance, but it is just a stepping stone to what we really need which is a rapid test or self-test that can diagnose TB in just minutes and requires practically no special training or infrastructure,” stated Blessi Kumar, a TB activist and vice-chair of the Stop TB Partnership Co-ordinating Board.
“India has been one of the most active players in this type of research,” says Dr Christian Lienhardt, senior scientific advisor, Stop TB Partnership.