World TB Day 2021 digest

Hi everyone, 

World TB Day is around the corner and the Stop TB Partnership's New Diagnostics Working Group (NDWG) is pleased to share that we are supporting a panel on "TB Diagnosis in India: The Need for Innovation" at the upcoming India TB Summit on 19 and 20 March. 

The India TB Summit 2021 is India’s only virtual public summit led and curated by TB experts and survivors. The theme for the summit this year is "Reimagining TB Care in India". Registration is free so you can tune in to watch many of our NDWG members including Dr Camilla Rodrigues, Dr Timothy Rodwell, Dr Amita Gupta and Dr Madhukar Pai. Details below: 

In other updates: 

NDWG Community Engagement Task Force

In our efforts to engage communities and TB advocates, NDWG along with the Working Group on New Drugs (WGND) and Working Group on New Vaccines (WGNV) is pleased to announce that we along with the Stop TB Partnership Affected Community and NGO Delegations will be soon launching an open access online curriculum on new TB tools (diagnostics, drugs and vaccines). The course is being specifically designed with and for advocates and affected communities to provide a base of knowledge in TB research and to generate interest and engagement in TB research advocacy. Our eventual goal is for learners and community representatives to successfully advocate for new tools to #EndTB. Stay tuned!!

NDWG Biomarker Task Force

We've just launched a factsheet on TB biomarkers, please share widely!!

NDWG NGS and DST Task Force

As the TPPs initially set in 2014 have reached the 5-year milestone, the WHO’s Global TB Programme, in collaboration with the NDWG, have started updating each of the targets and identifying new priorities that emerge through consultation with key stakeholders. The first of these to be addressed is the rapid drug-susceptibility tests that can be used at the microscopy-centre or peripheral level of the health-care system (the rapid DST test).

From 10–12 March 2021, the NDWG team was actively involved in the "Stakeholder Consultation on Target Product Profiles for
Next-Generation Drug-Susceptibility Testing at Peripheral Centres" meeting organized by the WHO. 

The expected outcome of this meeting (which is yet to be concluded), is updated TPPs on “Next-Generation Drug-Susceptibility Testing at Peripheral Centres” which are adjusted to the current context and patient and population needs, aligned with WHO’s overall strategic priorities in its thirteenth General Programme of Work (2019 – 2023), including the triple billion targets, as well as the End TB Strategy (2016–2035).

That's all for now folks!!

Please contact our Secretariat (Karishma Saran) [NDWG@finddx.org] in case of queries.

Your Co-Chairs, 

Daniela Cirillo and Morten Ruhwald