TB remains the deadliest infectious disease in the world – despite being treatable and curable. A TB diagnosis is the first step to life-saving care.
Treatment Action Group (TAG) welcomed the discounted access price for PlusLife MiniDock MTB tests – a fast, convenient, portable device that detects TB from tongue or sputum samples in 30 minutes – now priced at $2.60 per test, down from $3.60. The device is the first near point-of-care (NPOC) TB test recommended by the World Health Organization earlier this year. This new class of tests offers accurate, rapid TB diagnosis much closer to where people live and first seek care, removing a large access barrier.
Read the full TAG statement here.
In an opinion piece in Forbes, Madhukar Pai described this discounted price as a new era of access to innovation, addressing the 2.4 million undiagnosed TB cases annually. Advocates now urge a complete shift from smear microscopy to these more sensitive and accessible molecular tests.
Read the full opinion piece here.
For more TB updates, check out the TB CAB Weekly Newsletter (Issue #23, 13 September 2026).
The newsletter is brought to you by the Global TB Community Advisory Board (TB CAB) with the support of Treatment Action Group (TAG) and the European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG). Subscribe to the newsletter here.
Related HIV and Co-Infections News
Get involved
Are you living with HIV/AIDS? Are you part of a community affected by HIV/AIDS and co-infections? Do you work or volunteer in the field? Are you motivated by our cause and interested to support our work?
Subscribe
Stay in the loop and get all the important EATG updates in your inbox with the EATG newsletter. The HIV & co-infections bulletin is your source of handpicked news from the field arriving regularly to your inbox.