KUALA LUMPUR—One in three cases of tuberculosis in Asia-Pacific go undiagnosed, the WHO said Tuesday, as it approved a new machine that can identify multi-drug-resistant strains in just 90 minutes.
The machine, developed with the help of the Gates Foundation, is one of a number of tools being deployed to help identify more than 600,000 cases that go undetected in the region.
World Health Organization adviser Catharina Van Weezenbeek said the machine detects resistance to the powerful drug rifampicin, a process that would normally take up to six weeks in an advanced laboratory.
“The machine is the size of a cappuccino machine and is a standalone and can be made available at the district health office level, which means that we can now detect multi-drug strains of TB in just 90 minutes and much more accurately, quickly and cost-effectively,” she told Agence France-Presse.
Van Weezenbeek said that although WHO estimates there are 1.94 million TB cases in the Asia-Pacific, only 1.3 million of them go identified because of a lack of equipment and laboratory facilities.
“Those cases that are not diagnosed are continuing to spread the disease. The whole idea about TB control is not only to save people but to cut the chain of transmission before the situation worsens,” she said.
The Xpert MTB/RIF machine was developed earlier this year by the Foundation for Innovative new Diagnostics, a Geneva-based non-profit body funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Van Weezenbeek said the machine is now part of the WHO’s regional strategic plan to combat TB and will be deployed in areas with a high rate of multi-drug-resistant TB.
She said that along with other tools which are still in the approval process, they would “revolutionise” the detection of TB.
Although TB cases have fallen from 3.5 million in 2000 to 1.94 million cases in the region last year, the Asia-Pacific still accounts for 21 percent of cases globally last year.
Cambodia, China, the Philippines and Vietnam account for 93 percent of TB cases in the region. –Agence France-Presse
July 2025
Nutrition Month
“Give us much more than P50 increase
for proper nutrition!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations
against serious violations of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideosturesVideos
July
3 July – International Day of Cooperatives
3 July – International Plastic Bag Free Day
5 July – World Youth Skills Day
7 July – Global Forgiveness Day
11 July – World Population Day
17 July – World Day for International Justice
28 July – World Nature Conservation Day
30 July – World Day against Trafficking in Persons
Monthly Observances:
Schools Safety Month
Nutrition Month
National Disaster Consciousness Month
Weekly Observances:
Week 2: Cultural Communities Week
Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise
Development Week
Week 3: National Science and
Technology Week
National Disability Prevention and
Rehabilitation Week
July 1-7:
National Culture Consciousness Week
July 13-19:
Philippines Business Week
Week ending last Saturday of July:
Arbor Week
Daily Observances:
First Saturday of July:
International Cooperative Day
in the Philippines
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