Delhi Plans to Put TB Testing Machines to Hepatitis Use

Delhi plans to redirect 85 molecular diagnostic machines used under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP) toward hepatitis B and C testing. District-level use depends on approval from the NTEP State Programme Officer. Patients who test positive would receive viral-load testing through the proposed arrangement; government health programmes would retain the machines and control their use.

Who Controls the Testing Plan

The government plans to earmark one Truenat platform per district for viral-load testing of patients who test positive for hepatitis B and C. But that arrangement isn't final: it depends on the NTEP State Programme Officer’s concurrence and operational planning, according to the official statement. A district allocation is proposed, not confirmed.

Truenat platforms are portable molecular diagnostic machines that use polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based tests to detect infections, including tuberculosis, by identifying genetic material in patient samples. Viral-load tests measure the amount of virus in a patient's blood and help assess the infection. The plan would put existing testing infrastructure to an additional use—hepatitis testing—rather than establish a separate system of machines.

The government submitted a demand to the Central Programme Division for 2,500 Truenat chips for hepatitis B and another 2,500 for hepatitis C for 2026-27. The National Viral Hepatitis Control Programme's central unit indicated that the Centre would procure the chips centrally, the statement said. The Centre controls the supply decision; district platforms and government approval shape the proposed testing arrangement.

More Hours, More Conditions

The government plans to run existing testing machines beyond regular working hours and on holidays, depending on workload and operational requirements. Technicians will receive training and incentives to conduct the tests, according to the statement. The plan includes additional work time and incentives, but gives no schedule, incentive amounts, or number of technicians to be trained.

An official statement issued on Friday said the initiative aims to improve access to testing and strengthen coordination between national health programmes. Health Minister Pankaj Kumar Singh said the government was focusing on strengthening diagnostic services by making optimal use of existing health-care infrastructure and improving access to timely hepatitis B and C testing. Those aims come with conditions: the programme officer must concur, and operational planning must take place.

The broader screening plan also envisages portable X-ray facilities, with a special focus on women, particularly pregnant women, to help identify health conditions requiring further investigation. The account doesn't say where those facilities would operate or how many people they would serve. It describes a government-led plan, not a community-run testing effort; it reports no grassroots response, mutual-aid network, or direct action.

A Proposal Still Waiting on Approval

The account mentions no election, legislative remedy, nonprofit provider, or funding arrangement for an outside organization. Instead, the announced mechanism runs through the Delhi government, NTEP approval, a central demand for testing chips, and central procurement. The statement says the district arrangement will proceed only with required concurrence and operational planning.

The account reports no hepatitis testing results under this proposal and doesn't confirm that the machines have already begun testing for hepatitis B or C. It records a plan to use existing platforms, a request for chips, and conditions still attached to district-level implementation. The government has named the infrastructure, proposed hours, and institutions that must coordinate. People seeking tests remain the intended users of a system whose rollout still depends on decisions within those institutions.