ILULU

Launched in 2006, ILULU was a €5million project consisting of a team of 5 partners across 3 countries.

Together, they aimed to develop a simple, affordable diagnostic test for tuberculosis (TB) to improve detection of active TB particularly in HIV infected adults, and children. Improved detection can reduce the global burden of transmission and address the key problem of delay in TB diagnosis leading to the increase in morbidity and mortality that characterizes the HIV/TB pandemic in the developing world.

The major objectives of the programme were to:

• Identify a biological marker(s) (either gene expression or protein) which distinguish patients with active TB from those other diseases prevalent in African populations with high HIV and TB prevalence.
• To develop this marker(s) towards a rapid, simple and affordable diagnostic test for active TB, suitable for use in TB control in resource poor regions of the world most affected by the HIV pandemic.