World TB Day 2026
Maternal and Newborn Health Scenario
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Tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant public health challenge. India Health Fund (IHF), through its catalytic support is advancing science and technology-backed solutions to tackle this major public health burden.
IHF is doubling down on its commitment to supplement national TB elimination goals. Through DEVELOP-DEPLOYSCALE model, IHF has been supporting innovations in TB screening, diagnostics, treatment adherence and supply chain strengthening.
This #WorldTBDay, India Health Fund is proud to share IHF supported innovations that are advancing solutions in TB care and strengthening health systems.
IHF-supported Innovations in TB Screening
Salcit Technologies' Swaasa®
Swaasa® is an Al-led platform that records cough sounds from patients using a phone’s microphone and analyzes them to decode unique cough signatures to detect the possible presence of pulmonary TB using a proprietary AI algorithm, enabling large-scale community screening.
IHF (with ACT For Health) funded a multi-site technical validation study and large sample collection across clinical and community sites, including AlIMS Delhi, AlIMS Bhubaneshwar, AllIMS Gorakhpur and JIPMER Puducherry (which is now complete, n=6000). Discussions are currently in progress for further evidence generation through a larger study with the ICMR-National Institute for Research in Digital Health and Data Science (ICMR-NIRDHDS) and ICMRTB Division with the guidance from the Central TB Division (CTD).
Additionally, Swaasa® Al has been chosen for pilot deployment across Government health facilities in Andhra Pradesh under the MedTech Innovation Challenge 2025, led by the Health, Medical & Family Welfare Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh, in collaboration with the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub, which has enabled screening of over 15,000 individuals across high burden and high-risk populations. It has also been featured as a dedicated chapter in the Al Impact Casebooks, which was launched during the India Al Impact Summit 2026.
Stellar Diagnostics' point-of-care rapid TB triage test
Stellar Diagnostics has developed the world’s first rapid, finger prick, antibody based point-of-care (PoC) TB triage test with backing from IHF. The test is an affordable, peptide-based, lateral flow assay (LFA) test, delivering results in approximately 20 minutes. The test has demonstrated 92% sensitivity and 85% specificity in lab validations.
IHF supported the development and in lab validation of Stellar’s PoC TB triage test and has also enabled the improvement in the performance of the test to meet the optimal requirements of the WHO for regulatory approval.
Stellar is currently undergoing ICMR multicentric validation at NITRD, Delhi and ICMR- NIRT, Chennai. Stellar is in active partnership with Molbio Diagnostics for commercialization and scale up support.
Qure.ai's qXR
qXR is an affordable, smartphone-based Al-powered chest x-ray screening tool to detect TB within minutes. The tool enables rapid triage, reducing reliance on costly follow-up tests.
IHF supported the development of the novel qXR Al software for processing CXR film images (analog and digital x-rays in adult & paediatric population). IHF also enabled the deployment of the improved qXR Al software to screen 100,000 patients for TB, along with identifying missed TB cases.
qXR is currently deployed across 108+ countries, with 74 countries specifically for the TB use case, across 5,000+ sites (3,500+ for TB). To date, the solution has impacted 25M+ lives, flagged 1.9Mn+ TB presumptive cases, and contributed to a 29% increase in additional TB cases detected via the incidental pathway. Qure.ai has also launched an Al model for detecting tuberculosis in children aged O-3 years, becoming the first Al solution for pediatric TB screening in this age group to receive regulatory clearance
IHF-supported Innovations in TB Diagnostics
Huwel Lifesciences' Quantiplus®
Quantiplus® MTB Fast Detection Kit is an open RT-PCR kit that enables confirmatory diagnosis of TB in 40 minutes without the need for complex DNA extraction and sample processing. It is a low-cost, roughly 1/10th of the closedsystem cartridge tests and can scale to 900 tests a day for district labs.
IHF supported the field feasibility study for Quantiplus® across 10 Central ТВ Division (CTD) – approved sites to generate operational and real-world evidence. Development of the Quantiplus-Nikshay integration module has been completed.
The test is CDSCO-approved, ICMR-validated and independently benchmarked to inform policy and decentralised scale-up.
Healseq's CureDx: Blood-based RT-PCR test for early detection of extra pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB), treatment response monitoring and end of treatment test
CureDx is a host bio-marker-based RT-PCR test to detect pulmonary TB, extrapulmonary TB, monitor TB treatment response soon after initiation, and assess the end-of-treatment check point. Being the first-of-its-kind, the test uniquely enables early monitoring of treatment response, providing objective confirmation of cure upon completion of therapy. By detecting host based specific RNA signatures directly from blood samples, the test can identify response to TB treatment as early as two weeks after treatment initiation.
IHF supported Healseq for assay development, performance optimization, preclinical validation and indigenization for cost reduction. The test demonstrates 96% sensitivity and 88% specificity and a turnaround time of 60 to 90 minutes.
The test has received CDSCO test license. Further studies are being planned such as a cross-sectional study (for EPTB) and a longitudinal study (as a prognosis test). Healseq is also in active engagement with Molbio Diagnostics for potential support towards commercialization and scale up. This innovation has the potential to be a gamechanger in TB care ultimately improving patient outcomes.
Molbio Diagnostics' TrueNat
TrueNat is a fast, low-cost, battery-operated decentralized RT-PCR system for confirmatory TB testing, which enables same-day diagnosis, resistance detection and initiation of treatment for TB-positive patients.
IHF supported a community validation study which involved drug resistance testing in 2019 patients using TruNat at 5 sites in Uttar Pradesh state of India.
The system is highly scaled and widely used across all states in India. Till date, 6300 devices have been deployed across India by the program.
CisGEN Biotech's Rapid bovine TB test
CisGEN’s rapid bovine TB test is an affordable test that provides results in 10 minutes, even distinguishing bovine TB from environmental mycobacteria, and requires no specialised containment so that it can be administered by field workers with minimal training.
IHF supported the product refinement of CisGEN’s bovine TB detection test, facilitated its manufacturing and supported its independent validation through performance evaluation studies with the kit demonstrating a sensitivity of 95% and specificity of 100%. The kit has also been validated in other geographies such as UK and Ethiopia.
The kit is now being adopted across public and private sectors of the dairy industry, and its versatility is proving valuable beyond bovine TB. IHF supported CisGEN is truly a ‘One Health product’ given its interconnectedness between humans, animals and the environment.
IHF-supported Innovations in TB Supply Chain Logistics
Wobble Base Bioresearch's TBSend Card
TBSend Card is a cellulose-matrix card with proprietary reagents that capture and stabilise sputum DNA for safe, cold-chain-free storage and transport, with an airtight, biosafe design and simple DNA-release protocol for testing on NAAT platforms.
With IHF funding and support, the TBSend card passed an independent biosafety evaluation at the ICMR-National Institute for Research in TB (ICMR-NIRT) and is currently undergoing clinical validation.
This innovation holds the potential to enable safer long-distance sample storage and transport, subsequently improving access to molecular testing.
IHF-supported Innovations in TB Treatment Adherence
TMEAD (Tuberculosis Monitoring Encouragement Adherence Drive)
TMEAD a digital pillbox designed to transform how TB patients stay on track with treatment. It is a pre-loaded loT-enabled pillbox that monitors dose intake, provides alarms and notifications, and alerts health workers in real time about missed doses, improving adherence to treatment and enabling timely intervention.
IHF supported a pilot deployment study across Maharashtra and Gujarat for drug resistant TB patients and an independent health-technology assessment by the Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar (IIPHG) and Dept. of Health Research (DHR), leading to CTD recommendation and proposed integration with the Nikshay platform for national treatment monitoring.
Currently the innovation is being used in select districts across 2 states in India (Maharashtra, Gujarat).
Conclusion:
Samyak is a health initiative housed within Collective Good Foundation (CGF), committed to improving the quality of life of India’s urban citizens by bridging existing health inequities. Samyak – CGF is a knowledge partner to the Government of Uttar Pradesh (GoUP), providing support to improve health and nutrition outcomes in 100 small, transitioning cities through the UP Aspirational Cities Program (UP-ACP). UP – ACP is a flagship program of the GoUP that aims to improve municipal service delivery, create economic opportunities and improve the quality of life of all citizens. The program identifies social infrastructure (health and education) as a key pillar for urban transformation, indicating GoUP’s commitment to improve urban health outcomes and recognition of the potential role of ULBs in this process.
The study was conducted to understand and examine the health status and challenges in these cities. The findings from the study have been shared with the Urban Development Department, Government of UP, the anchor for the UP–ACP program. Samyak is currently working with the Government (including the state health department) and other development partners in UP to collectively address these challenges through a system-led approach.
Authors:
Dr. Aatmika Nair, Manager, Portfolio, India Health Fund
Samrudhi Khanna, Sr. Associate, Portfolio, India Health Fund
Devanshi Patel, Manager, Strategy, Partnerships and Impact