On 15th June 2018, UCL-TB held an interactive workshop to address the increasing role of molecular diagnostics in the management of tuberculosis.
Bringing together healthcare professionals, researchers, industry partners, civil society and TB interest groups, the meeting consisted of a morning session with invited speakers, followed in the afternoon by group discussions, a panel session with TB patients who spoke movingly about their experiences, and finally an evening drinks reception. Throughout the day, delegates had the opportunity to visit a truck fitted with diagnostics equipment.
The morning's talks covered all aspects of molecular diagnosis of tuberculosis from implementation of current NICE guidelines through to horizon scanning of molecular assays (available as downloads below). In the afternoon, working in multidisciplinary, small groups, participants shared experiences and ideas on the barriers to the successful implementation of current diagnostics and the development of new tools.
A position paper discussing the current status of molecular diagnostics and the direction of their future development to provide optimal management of tuberculosis has been published. This has been made available to stakeholder organisations to inform decision making in TB services.
We would like to thank all of our speakers and delegates who came from all over the UK, as well as Germany and Italy, for a thoroughly productive meeting.
Speaker presentations to download as PDFs
![diagnostics event speaker](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/tb/sites/tb/files/styles/small_image/public/diagnostics_event_2.jpg?itok=sXxjmPf4)
![diagnostics event truck](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/tb/sites/tb/files/styles/small_image/public/diagnostics_truck.jpg?itok=Rpwp7sjQ)
![patient advocates speak about their experiences](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/tb/sites/tb/files/styles/small_image/public/patients_cropped.jpg?itok=XSyq2nUy)