The World Health Organization (WHO) is currently clamoring for the ban on blood tests which look for active tuberculosis in the individual using the tests. According to the World Health Organization and its one year study of the blood tests, the blood tests are extremely harmful in that it can misdiagnose individuals using the tests which can also lead to mistreatment of themselves and ultimately result in death.

WHO is urging doctors and other medical experts to halt the use of blood tests due to their appalling inaccuracy (50% of the people who use it will get a wrong diagnosis) and instead use a molecular test that can diagnose tuberculosis in less than two hours.

This treatment, supported by WHO, costs just 16 U.S dollars, a price at least $14 below the average price of a blood test.

According to health reports, blood tests are most prevalent in regions and countries of the world such as China, India or Eastern Europe where the rate of tuberculosis in the populace is high.

Companies in developed countries see to the manufacturing of these blood test kits and put them on the markets elsewhere in the world due to less medical regulations and restraint.

More than 1 million blood tests are estimated to be used annually to help individuals diagnose tuberculosis.

WHO stated that these blood tests, depending on the results of the diagnosis, can either allow further spreading of tuberculosis (unawareness due to a false negative) or dangerous and unnecessary medical treatment for tuberculosis for those who actually do not have it (a false positive).

At least 9 million cases of tuberculosis arise every year while more than 1.5 million die every year.

Getting rid of these blood tests will help those with tuberculosis to get accurate diagnoses which may come early in the stages of tuberculosis and help save lives.