Thyrocare launches tuberculosis testing facility FocusTB

Diagnostics services provider Thyrocare today announced the launch of FocusTB, its affordable brand focusing on TB diagnostics.
"With the launch of our TB offering, we hope to make a fundamental and measurable change to the way Tuberculosis is diagnosed and treated in India," said A Velumani, CEO of Thyrocare Technologies, at the launch event in Mumbai in a statement.
Velumani said, "Drug resistant strains of TB pose a significant public health hazard and must be addressed by India's healthcare sector sooner than later. We are bringing highly advanced technologies like PCR to bear against this adversary for the first time in India. FocusTB services are available throughout India through Thyrocare's Pan Asian network with more than 30,000 sample collection points."

It said that India is ranked among the countries with the highest TB burdens globally. As per WHO, India is one of the six countries that account for half of new TB cases globally.
Estimates suggest that as much as 40 per cent of the Indian population suffers from Latent TB rather than the active form of the disease which is contracted when the patient is immuno-compromised.
One of the emerging public health disasters is the emergence of multiple dug resistant (MDR)Strains of TB. Lack of awareness and dose discipline among the patients globally is making them more prone to drug resistant TB, a complication which is difficult to treat and could be fatal. People with MDR-TB do not respond to the first-line drugs for TB, i.e., Isoniazid and Rifampicin.

According to a recent study in Lancet, by the year 2040, the fraction of TB patients with multiple drug resistance will rise to 12.4% of all TB cases in India. Mortality rate is ~40% in TB patients who develop MDR-TB and ~60 per cent in patients with XDR-TB. Early and accurate diagnosis is the only key to tackle MDR-TB and control its spread.