A NEW WEPON AGAINST AN OLD SCOURGE

You should care about this while - you - wait tuberculosis test: it will rein in one of the biggest killers in the developing world (according to WHO, TB caused some 1.4 million deaths worldwide in 2012, more than a fifth of them in India).

Tuberculosis can be cured if its diagnosed and treated properly. But because the standard test is slow and unreliable, many people in countries across, many people in countries across the globe go undiagnosed - or are treated ineffectively, which makes it more likely that the bacteria will become impervious to medication. In a world where travel can speed an infected tourisr or immigrant to another place, multidrug - resistant TB threatens everyone. The new test is 99 percent accurate and gives results in 100 minutes - an amazing fast - forward compared with the three month's wait standard in some parts of the world.

A rapid test could help elicit more effective treatment - even the eventual elimination of the disease, said Peter Small, MD, head of TB programs at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which helped fund the research. "You can tell [patients] before they leave the office if they have TB and if's drug resistant," he told the Associated Press, "It's transformational."

Meanwhile, the Indian Council of the Medical Research has also come up with a loe- cost, rapid TB test kit which is expected to be launched soon.