In support of Karnataka’s drive to eliminate tuberculosis by 2025, KC General Hospital in Bengaluru has received another cassette-based nucleic acid amplification device (CBNAAT) to reduce delays in diagnosis of the city’s high patient burden.
The hospital, a major tertiary care center in the heart of the city, is struggling with an overloaded TB testing capacity despite already having one CBNAAT unit in place. The new machine is expected to significantly reduce the turnaround time for test results.
Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao inaugurated the new facility on Thursday. Speaking at the event, he said that Syngenta India Pvt. Ltd., as part of its CSR initiative, provided seven machines to CBNAAT worth around ₹ 1.5 million for public use. “Three machines have been allocated to Vijayanagar district, three to Kolar district and one to KC General Hospital,” he said.
CBNAAT’s technology, approved by the World Health Organization in 2010, can detect TB and rifampicin resistance within two hours, in stark contrast to conventional culture methods that take six to eight weeks. With a sensitivity of over 92% and a specificity of 98%, the test is essential for the early and accurate detection of both pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB.
Karnataka currently operates 145 CBNAAT machines under the National TB Elimination Program (NTEP). Between January and October 2025, 16.87 million suspected TB cases were tested in the state, of which 10.99 million underwent molecular testing. Each machine does 300 to 400 tests a month, but urban facilities like KC General are seeing higher demand.
Hospital authorities said the only existing machine is overwhelmed with samples every day, leading to delays in the turnaround time for confirming rifampicin-resistant TB. The new machine is expected to significantly increase diagnostic capacity.
The initiative is in line with India’s goal of eliminating TB by 2025 – five years ahead of global targets – under the National Strategic Plan’s mandate to expand rapid molecular testing for all patients with suspected TB. Karnataka has already reported 63,605 TB cases by October 2025, achieving 95% of its annual target, with a treatment success rate of 88%.
Published – 05 Dec 2025 01:25 IST
