Screening for TB symptoms is a frequently adopted approach. These symptoms include a cough of any duration, sputum, haemoptysis, fever, night sweats and weight loss. The estimated sensitivity of symptomatic screening is 71% – higher than for cough alone, but with lower estimated specificity (64%)*.

A sensitivity of 71% (or positive detection rate) means the remaining 29% of patients are missed right from the get-go. These TB-positive patients return to their communities untreated, continue to suffer from the progression of disease, and risk spreading TB to their families and colleagues.

In 2022 the global spend on TB management alone was $5.8 Billion* (a mere 42% of the UN-prescribed target). In 2023, 30% of the total TB management budget was allocated towards Diagnosis, according to the StopTB partnership’s global plan to end TB 2023-2030**.

Assuming this ratio reflected the previous year's actual spending distribution, then in 2022 an estimated $1.62 Billion was spent on TB Diagnosis.

Globally it is estimated that an average of 5 TB tests are issued for each TB-Positive identified (up to 12 in South Africa). As a result, 4 out of 5 TB tests are conducted on TB-Negative patients*, suggesting $1.3 Billion (⅘) of the global TB Diagnosis budget is spent on testing TB-Negative patients.

This wasted testing expenditure is a direct result of the low levels of accuracy associated with the current TB screening methods.