May 20, 2025: Unitaid and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) today announced a new agreement to dramatically lower the price and improve access to a battery-operated, ultraportable digital chest x-ray system – bringing cutting-edge tuberculosis (TB) screening closer to people’s homes and communities in low- and middle-income countries.
Weighing just 5kg (11lbs) and designed for use in the most remote settings, the device—developed by South Korea’s Poskom—is compatible with AI-driven computer-aided detection software, that interprets X-rays and performs on par with expert human radiologists. This combination allows for early TB screening and triage outside of traditional health facilities, overcoming long-standing barriers related to distance, cost and stigma.
“This innovation will help bring expert-level TB screening closer to the people and communities most affected by the disease, where health facilities are often out of reach” said Dr. Philippe Duneton, Unitaid’s Executive Director. “By making this technology more affordable and accessible, we are not only helping countries reach further with TB care, we are also reinforcing health systems to respond to lung disease more broadly.”
Under the new pricing agreement, the AirRay 20 ultraportable digital chest x-ray system will be available to 138 low- and middle-income countries at a ceiling price of US$20,000—about 60 percent less than similar quality ultraportable chest X-ray devices currently on the market. The list includes countries with a high burden of TB such as Vietnam, Kenya, and South Africa. The system includes all components necessary for field implementation, including the ultralight x-ray generator, digital detector, adjustable stands, laptop for image processing, and backpack for easy transportation.
“This agreement shows what’s possible when we make life-saving technology affordable for those who need it most,” said Dr. Neil Buddy Shah, CHAI CEO. “With TB still being the world’s largest infectious disease killer, access to low-cost diagnostics has remained a major barrier to care. By dramatically lowering the price of these portable X-ray systems, we’re bringing a breakthrough solution directly to communities where people live. It’s a powerful example of how smart market solutions can remove barriers to care and save lives today.”
In addition to the price cut, CHAI will work with Poskom to strengthen distribution networks and service capacity, ensuring devices are reliable, maintained and always operational.
TB remains the world’s deadliest infectious disease, claiming an estimated 1.25 million lives in 2023 and causing illness in more than 10.8 million people[1]. Despite global progress, nearly 1 in 5 people with TB still go undiagnosed each year—largely due to limited access to affordable and effective screening tools.
Digital chest x-ray, especially when paired with computer-aided detection software, is a powerful tool for detecting TB early—even when individuals do not show symptoms of active TB disease. Yet until now, this technology has been largely confined to health facilities, which are often out of reach for many people affected by TB due to distance, cost and stigma. The AirRay 20 changes that equation.
“Ultraportable chest X-ray has been an instrumental part of the ‘Double X’ strategy implemented by the Viet Nam NTP.,” said Dr. Dinh Van Luong, Director of the National Lung Hospital and Manager of the National Tuberculosis Program in Viet Nam (VNTP). “With safe, lower cost systems, we are able to cost-effectively identify more cases and close the diagnostic gap.”
The new agreement is the first market-shaping intervention under the Unitaid-funded ASCENT DR-TB Market Access partnership, led by KNCV TB Foundation with support from CHAI and South Africa’s the Aurum Institute. The initiative is designed to improve affordability and availability of WHO-recommended TB diagnostics and treatment regimens.
For countries facing high TB burdens and limited resources, scalable solutions that deliver high-quality screening where it’s needed most are more critical than ever.
“Kenya has had great success introducing ultraportable digital chest x-ray with Artificial Intelligence software, which enables us to screen more individuals at the community level. The reduction in price will support further scale up and accelerate TB case finding within countries’ strained TB budgets,” said Dr. Immaculate Kathure, Kenya Ministry of Health, Division of TB and Lung Health.
Note to editors:
About Computer-aided detection
Computer-aided detection (CAD) software can be used to interpret chest radiography instead of trained people like radiologists. CAD software products, which incorporate artificial intelligence in their functioning, have been shown to identify TB abnormalities as well as trained healthcare workers. However, for the time being, radiologists and other trained specialists are still needed to distinguish different diseases on chest X-rays or interpret chest X-rays for TB in children. The 2021 WHO recommendation on CAD relates only to its use to determine the likelihood that an X-ray abnormality is due to pulmonary TB or not. Nonetheless the field of CAD is rapidly evolving, and it is possible that these technologies will become proficient for other uses in medicine in future.
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Media
For further information or media inquiries, please contact:
CHAI
Corina Milic
Director of Communications
cmilic@clintonhealthaccess.org
Unitaid
Kyle Wilkinson
Communications officer
+41 79 445 17 45
wilkinsonk@unitaid.who.int
About the partners
About Unitaid
Unitaid is a global health organization that saves lives by making new health products available and affordable for people in low- and middle-income countries. Unitaid works with partners to identify innovative treatments, tests and tools, help tackle the market barriers that are holding them back, and get them to the people who need them most – fast. Since Unitaid was created in 2006, the organization has unlocked access to more than 100 groundbreaking health products to help address the world’s biggest health challenges, including HIV, TB and malaria; women’s and children’s health; and pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. Every year, more than 300 million people benefit from the products Unitaid has helped roll out. Unitaid is hosted by the World Health Organization.
About CHAI
The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to saving lives and improving health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries by enabling the government and private sector to strengthen and sustain quality health systems. For more information, please visit: http://www.clintonhealthaccess.org
About Aurum Institute
The Aurum Institute is a proudly African organization working to advance health science and innovation to create a healthier world for future generations. We partner with governments, the private sector and civil society to design and deliver high-quality care and treatment to people in developing communities. https://www.auruminstitute.org/
About KNCV TB Foundation
KNCV TB Foundation has been fighting TB since its establishment in 1903 as a collaborative effort by several private local TB control initiatives in the Netherlands. Over the past 120 years, the organization has acquired indispensable knowledge and experience in the field of effective TB prevention and care, resulting in pre-elimination in the Netherlands and significant contributions to global evidence generation, policy development and TB program implementation worldwide. https://www.kncvtbplus.com/
[1] World Health Organization. Global Tuberculosis Report, 2024. https://www.who.int/teams/global-programme-on-tuberculosis-and-lung-health/tb-reports/global-tuberculosis-report-2024
