May 2022 LabCoP Extended ECHO Session:

On 31 May 2022, Stop TB Partnership Global Laboratory Initiative (GLI), in collaboration with the ASLM, and TB-CAPT project, convened a session on guidance in selecting patient-cantered, setting-specific solutions for tuberculosis (TB) detection. This new WHO/ Global Laboratory Initiative manual recommends that all patients with presumptive TB receive an initial, molecular WHO-recommended diagnostic (mWRD) test to support early diagnosis and treatment initiation. However, the mWRD landscape has rapidly expanded, providing programs with multiple options to review and select tests of varying complexity and capacity that meets their setting-specific needs. This session presented an overview of practical guidance on this process. Additionally, there was discussion on the landscape of mWRD tests and how to improve patient access to testing by using their setting-specific information to guide test selection and placement. Patricia Hall-Eidson, GLI Vice Chair, TB and Clinical Monitoring Team Lead at the International Laboratory Branch of the Division of Global HIV and TB, Center for Global Health, at US CDC presented. Perspectives from key stakeholders included Hebert Mutunzi, Senior TB Diagnostic Specialist, Infectious Disease Detection and Surveillance (IDDS) Project, Harare, Zimbabwe and Stephen John, Director Planning, Research and Statistics, Adamawa State Ministry of Health, Yola, Nigeria. Please follow the links here to view the recorded ECHO session and download presentation slides.