How to Stop Diseases from Spreading

What are the best ways to stop the spread of infectious diseases? One key element is diagnostics. For diseases like tuberculosis, there are millions of people unaware that they have the disease. So improving diagnostic tests and making them accessible are critical. Thankfully, new scientific breakthroughs could dramatically improve rapid TB diagnostic tests. These tools may soon transform countries like India, where the toll of TB looms large. Reporting from Mumbai, India, journalist Chhavi Sachdev speaks with Dr. DJ Christopher, professor of pulmonary medicine at Christian Medical College, Vellore, a top ranked teaching medical college. Christopher and his R2D2 TB Network colleagues recently published significant findings in eBioMedicine about the potential of tongue swab-based tests to detect TB. Sachdev also talks to Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, a principal advisor for India's National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme, and Ashna Ashesh, a TB survivor and advocate, about what is needed to improve TB diagnostics. Then, we dive into another critical part of halting disease spread: surveillance. This requires governments to have access to high quality health data about people in a given region. This information is vital to making decisions quickly, including those that pertain to cross-border disease spread. Producer Eunice Maina talks with malaria community health workers on the Kenya-Uganda border who monitor disease prevalence, including Emily Onyango Auma. Then host Henry Bonsu speaks with Dr. Abdisalan Noor, Executive Director of AHADI, Applied Health Analytics for Delivery and Innovation. AHADI works with health institutions, particularly in Africa, to strengthen their self-reliance in public health analytics. Before AHADI, Noor helped the World Health Organization develop global guidelines on malaria surveillance. The Threshold is made possible in part through funding from the Gates Foundation. Guests and organizations: Dr. DJ Christopher, Professor of Pulmonary Medicine at Christian Medical College, Vellore Dr. Abdisalan Noor, Executive Director of AHADI, Applied Health Analytics for Delivery and Innovation Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Principal Advisor for India's National Tuberculosis Elimination Program Ashna Ashesh, TB survivor and advocate Emily Onyango Auma, community health worker