By Bobby Ramakant – CNS
At the heart of global health goals like Health for All and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) lies a simple but powerful principle: healthcare must be designed around people, not diseases. This vision was passionately echoed at the 2nd Asia Pacific Conference on Point-of-Care Diagnostics for Infectious Diseases (POC 2025), held in the lead-up to the 13th International AIDS Society Conference (IAS 2025).
Dr. Nittaya Phanuphak, Executive Director of Thailand’s Institute of HIV Research and Innovation, emphasized that health technologies must reach the most vulnerable where they are, not stay locked in centralized labs. Point-of-care tools must be deployed to communities, ensuring equity and dignity in health services. Shobha Shukla of Citizen News Service (CNS) added, “Tools sitting in central labs are useless for those who need them most.”
Real-World Impact: Manipur and Bantayan’s Success Stories
In Manipur, India, the Community Network for Empowerment (CoNE), with support from amfAR’s TREATAsia, demonstrated the success of same-day hepatitis C diagnosis and treatment. Using India-made Truenat—a WHO-recommended, portable molecular test platform—health workers screened and confirmed 155 individuals with hepatitis C among former injection drug users. Remarkably, 98% began treatment on the same day, and all completed it. This field-deployable, battery-operated technology made it possible to offer high-quality diagnostics in remote settings, sparing patients delays and stigma.
A similar breakthrough came from Bantayan, Philippines, where Dr. Samantha Tinsay and her team tackled tuberculosis (TB) in hard-to-reach islets using AI-enabled portable X-rays and Truenat tests loaded onto boats. Before the pandemic, only a third of TB cases were detected here. By 2024, this figure had soared to 99% detection, and the treatment success rate rose to 97%, outperforming the national average of 78%. Dr. Tinsay’s model shows how mobile diagnostic services can bridge long-standing health access gaps.
Misdiagnosis and Human Cost: Meera’s TB Journey
Not all stories are as hopeful. Meera, a survivor of extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB), endured six years of misdiagnosis and ineffective treatment from 2012 to 2018. Tools for quick and accurate diagnosis existed back then, yet she had to spend ₹3 lakh (~$4000) on her care, stay away from her infant son, and face cruel stigma. Only after receiving the correct molecular test and treatment was she cured.
Her testimony, shared by Blessina Kumar of the Global Coalition of TB Advocates, underlines how misdiagnosis not only prolongs illness but devastates lives emotionally and financially. In contrast, early molecular testing today can diagnose even drug-resistant TB in under two hours and enable six-month treatment regimens.
The Inequity Gap and Missed Opportunities
Why then do so many still suffer from treatable conditions? Injustice and inequity, say experts. Despite clear global mandates—like the WHO’s 2018 call to replace microscopy with molecular tests by 2027—over half of TB patients globally were still diagnosed using outdated methods in 2023, most of them in the Global South. Historical examples from the U.S. and Australia show that elimination of TB is possible with commitment and community outreach—yet these efforts remain underfunded elsewhere.
India’s 100-Day TB Campaign: A Turning Point
A model shift emerged from India’s 100-day TB campaign, launched across 347 high-risk districts in December 2024 and later expanded nationwide. It introduced AI-enabled portable X-rays and Truenat testing to screen people regardless of symptoms, focusing on homeless and migrant populations. The result: 129.7 million people were screened, and over 285,000 asymptomatic TB cases were found—people who would otherwise be missed.
This proactive, science-led screening marks a foundational change in India’s TB response and proves the power of technology plus people-centred strategy.
Towards Multi-Disease Elimination
Finally, experts at POC 2025 stressed that multi-disease diagnostic platforms like Truenat and AI tools should be used beyond TB. For instance, DeepTek’s Genki AI screens for 26 diseases in seconds. Optimizing such under-utilized infrastructure not only improves current healthcare delivery but also strengthens global pandemic preparedness.
The Bottom Line
From TB and hepatitis to HIV and emerging infections, healthcare must be redesigned to fit the lives of people—not the other way around. Successes in Manipur, Bantayan, and India’s national campaigns demonstrate that when we take science to the people, we deliver dignity, healing, and hope. The tools exist. The knowledge is there. Now, it’s time to close the equity gap and act.