The Government of India is all set to launch a special door-to-door tuberculosis (TB) screening initiative on 24 March 2022, globally observed as World TB Day.

Under this initiative, over the next two to three weeks, health workers will be visiting the vulnerable population that is potentially exposed to the infection and test those found to have symptoms of the disease.

The indigenously developed Truenat platform by Molbio Diagnostics has been deployed as a frontline tool in the government’s effort towards scaling up testing in the country. The Truenat technology was endorsed by WHO in 2020 as the world’s first point-of-care rapid molecular diagnostic platform for diagnosis of TB and multidrug resistance. 

With the ability to operate in resource-limited settings with minimal dependence on infrastructure and skilled manpower, Truenat machines are being deployed at the sub-district level in the remotest corners across the country.

Over 3,500 community health centres (CHCs) and primary health centres (PHCs) have been equipped with Truenat devices under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Program (NTEP) for first-line testing of TB in suspected patients. The ongoing expansion in the rollout of this technology across the healthcare chain will ensure that patients will not have to travel long distances and wait long hours to access an early and accurate diagnosis.