Molecular diagnostics, integrated lab infrastructure and multi-organisation partnerships are a powerful triple opportunity to prevent TB transmission
Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the most significant public health challenges across the Asia-Pacific region. This disease is preventable and curable, and the global prevalence of TB is falling — but in the Asia-Pacific region, it isn’t falling fast enough.
The disease continues to claim hundreds of thousands of lives each year in our region, mostly in low and middle income countries (LMICs). South East Asia alone accounted for an estimated 46% of TB cases globally in 20221. India, Indonesia and the Philippines share a particularly heavy TB burden2,3; millions of cases go undiagnosed, while drug-resistant strains are on the rise and increasingly difficult to treat.
Every day a patient goes undiagnosed is another day they can potentially transmit the bacteria to their family and community. This is why closing the diagnostic gap is so vital to save lives.
By rapidly identifying the specific strain of TB and its resistance profile, clinicians can prescribe the most effective antibiotics straight away. Rapid intervention halts transmission chains, improves outcomes, and prevents drug-resistant superbugs from evolving in communities.
Expanding molecular diagnostics
To identify TB cases earlier, labs must transition away from traditional smear microscopy — a century-old method with limited sensitivity — toward much more advanced molecular diagnostics.
While microscopy often fails to detect TB in its early stages or in patients with lower bacterial loads, molecular testing identifies the DNA of the TB bacterium itself. This provides both far greater accuracy and the ability to detect drug resistance simultaneously, ensuring that no case goes unnoticed.
High-throughput, automated molecular platforms can now give clinicians and patients the answers they need in under three hours. Clinicians can identify “smear-negative” cases — patients who actually have TB but would have been missed by a microscope — and prescribe the right course of antibiotics immediately. This eliminates the weeks-long wait associated with traditional laboratory cultures and gives patients the best possible chance of a successful recovery.
Strengthening health systems
Advanced diagnostics are only effective when they’re supported by a robust delivery framework.
This requires a comprehensive investment in laboratory infrastructure, digitising data management for better patient tracking, and continuously training a skilled healthcare workforce. When advanced diagnostic tools are integrated into the primary care network, the entire system becomes more resilient.
By implementing “multi-pathogen” diagnostic networks, health systems can use a single molecular platform to test for TB alongside other critical diseases like HIV, Hepatitis, and COVID-19.
With an integrated approach, investments in TB diagnostics simultaneously strengthen the entire laboratory infrastructure, improving resource management and ensuring that even the most remote clinics are equipped to handle multiple public health threats with the same technology available in high-resource urban settings.
Coordinating multi-partner initiatives
Ending an epidemic of this scale requires a whole-of-society approach to align national governments with international bodies like the Global Fund and the World Health Organisation.
Through coordinated global access initiatives like the Global Access Program to include TB diagnostic solutions, high-burden countries can leverage pooled procurement and international partnerships to significantly lower the cost of diagnostic tests. This ensures that high-quality, rapid molecular testing is available free of charge at the point of care, creating a sustainable supply chain that can withstand economic fluctuations.
The Ending Workplace TB (EWTB initiative), meanwhile, is a coalition of companies and key organisations active in the fight against TB in the workplace.. Launched at the World Economic Forum in January 2020, it brings together some of the world’s leading practitioners of workplace health programming with leading technical agencies and non-governmental organisations to build policies and programmes for healthier, disease-safe workplaces.
These collaborations are essential for bridging funding gaps and ensuring that medical innovations reach the most at-risk populations without placing an undue burden on local healthcare budgets.
The regional opportunity for transformation
The fight against TB is a powerful catalyst for broader health equity across the Asia-Pacific. By committing to expanded diagnostics, stronger systems, and international coordination, regional leaders can lead the charge to finally end the TB epidemic — saving millions of lives and securing a healthier, more prosperous future for the entire region.
