UAE | Health

New machine to detect TB quickly in UAE, says official

WHO approval of PCR expected by end of this year, after which test results available in a day.

  • By Mariam M. Al Serkal, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 10:44 March 24, 2009
  • Gulf News

Sharjah: No need to wait for four days to get your tuberculosis test results, a new machine will soon hand them over in just one day.

"Once the World Health Organisation [WHO] approves the machine in the Eastern Mediterranean region, which will most likely take place by the end of 2009, we will implement it immediately," said Dr Kalthoom Mohammad, tuberculosis programme manager at the Ministry of Health.

The PCR Machine is a piece of laboratory equipment used to amplify segments of DNA and is able to detect TB in a day, which will be more efficient than the procedures currently used that takes up to four days to receive the results.

The announcement was made on Tuesday as the country marked World TB Day under the slogan, "I am stopping TB".

World TB Day is held annually on March 24 and commemorates the date in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch presented his discovery of the TB bacillus to a group of doctors in Berlin, according to the WHO.

Dr Mahmoud Fikri, Chief Executive for Health Policies, Ministry of Health, said that 16 cases of TB of various types were reported per 100,000 citizens in 2008.

Mooch

Mooch ado about nothing

Mooch represents dreams, troubles of a Dubaiite

The villa owners have now brought their own kit to check chlorine levels

Pool horror

Twins hospitalised after swimming pool horror

Picture of Burj Khalifa taken at 12.19am on Sunday. The picture clearly shows fog-covered Burj Khalifa, quashing rumours of fire.

General

Reports of Burj Khalifa fire: Rumours or real?

Community Reports

More from Community Reports

National Day wallpaper

40 years of UAE

Download commemorative wallpapers of the UAE

<i>Building a Nation</i> is both accessible enough for newcomers in the UAE to appreciate the emirates and informed enough for long-term residents to value the history and context.

Book

Gulf News' book chronicles UAE's rich history