Mozambique to begin widespread use of GeneXpert TB testing machine

The Guardian reports on the rollout of the GeneXpert tuberculosis (TB) testing machine in Mozambique, where it "should speed up TB diagnosis from two to three months to two hours." According to the newspaper, "These machines mean people can be tested, diagnosed and started on multi-drug resistant treatment on the same day -- a significant improvement on current waiting times." UNITAID is funding the equipment rollout, the newspaper notes, adding, "In July, UNITAID, with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID and PEPFAR, reduced the price of the relatively expensive cartridges by 40 percent -- from $16 to $10 -- for 145 low- and middle-income countries." The Guardian notes that "[c]ountries not directly supported by UNITAID, such as South Africa, are also now benefiting from the price reduction" (Lamble, 3/12).