At it's Annual Meeting 2009 in Cancun, Mexico, the New Diagnostics Working Group released a new publication entitled:
Pathways to better diagnostics for tuberculosis: A blueprint for the development of TB diagnostics.
This publication, with contributions from over 30 experts, aims to provide a comprehensive, well-referenced blueprint to guide researchers, clinicians, industry partners, academics, and TB controllers in all sectors in all aspects of TB diagnostics development, from concept to evaluation, implementation, scale-up, delivery and impact. It is designed to help identify the most promising TB tests, to push them towards alignment with the needs and requirements of the areas where tuberculosis is most prevalent, and to help determine why some are held up in development. The blueprint also is intended to help boost coordination and collaboration across the diagnostic research and development landscape, while leading to greater success in advancing new tests by clarifying that landscape and the various development steps. Finally, considering the paucity of national regulations regarding the quality of diagnostics and the need for a strong evidence base to support health policy decisions, this blueprint seeks to inform and advance independent evaluation and assessment of the new tools’ likely impacts based on scientifically sound methodology, in addition to well-defined standards of practice for study design.