Xpert MTB/RIF Implementation Manual

Technical and Operational "How-To": Practical Considerations

Paperback
April 2015
9789241506700
More details
  • Publisher
    World Health Organization
  • Published
    20th April 2015
  • ISBN 9789241506700
  • Language English
  • Pages 50 pp.
  • Size 6.25" x 9.75"
$18.00

In December 2010, WHO first recommended the use of the Xpert MTB/RIF assay. The WHO's policy statement was supported by a rapid implementation document, which provided the technical "how-to" and operational considerations for rolling out the use of the assay. An unprecedented uptake of this new technology followed the release of WHO's policy: by the end of March 2014, more than 2,300 GeneXpert instruments and more than 6 million Xpert MTB/RIF cartridges had been procured in the public sector in 104 countries eligible for concessional prices.

An Expert Group was convened by WHO in May 2013 to review the current body of evidence on use of Xpert MTB/RIF. The resulting recommendations from the Expert Group are included in the WHO Policy update, which widens the recommended use of Xpert MTB/RIF, including for the diagnosis of paediatric TB and on selected specimens for the diagnosis of extrapulmonary TB, and includes an additional recommendation on the use of Xpert MTB/RIF as the initial diagnostic test in all individuals presumed to have pulmonary TB.

The accompanying Xpert MTB/RIF implementation manual has been developed to replace the first edition and takes into consideration the current body of evidence and operational experiences available, in the context of the Policy update.

World Health Organization

World Health Organization is a Specialized Agency of the United Nations, charged to act as the world's directing and coordinating authority on questions of human health. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries, and monitoring and assessing health trends.