WHO data shows India has taken impressive strides in countering tuberculosis since 2015. The number of reported cases has dropped by 17 per cent and deaths have come down by more than 20 per cent. Even so, the country accounts for more than a fourth of the world’s TB burden and nearly 30 per cent of the deaths caused by the disease. India does not appear to be on course to meet its target of eliminating the disease by the end of this year. That’s why the government’s initiative to use cutting-edge technology, including AI, in its anti-TB programme is a step in the right direction.
TB can be tough to detect. The traditional sputum test has major limitations, including inadequate sensitivity, poor performance in some sections of patients, especially children and people living with HIV, and inability to detect antimicrobial resistance. In 2023, the WHO recognised diagnosis as the weakest link in TB care. While the landscape of research has expanded, doctors in large parts of the Global South, including India, continue to rely on the sputum test. The anti-TB programme’s plan to widen the diagnostic net by using other samples — such as blood, saliva, or stool — is in line with the WHO’s new guideline to “invest in novel diagnostic techniques”. So is the use of genetic material to detect the bacteria. The new initiative seems to have accounted for the longstanding weakness of the Indian healthcare system — the shortage of facilities and trained professionals in rural areas. The use of AI to read microscopy slides and X-rays could be a breakthrough.
