Priority Areas for Research on Tuberculosis Diagnosis

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health threat and the world’s deadliest infectious disease [1] despite being largely curable and preventable. Timely diagnosis and drug-susceptibility testing (DST) is the gateway to initiating effective treatment in TB, reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with the disease and preventing further transmission [1]. However, diagnosis remains a critical bottleneck in TB, with an estimated three million people remaining undiagnosed and untreated each year, largely because of limited access to appropriate diagnostics [1, 2].