15-minute urine test becomes frontline tool in Hyderabad’s fight against substance abuse

A small testing kit that delivers results in just 15 minutes is now at the centre of Telangana’s response to rising substance abuse, especially in Hyderabad, with doctors at Gandhi Hospital using multi-drug urine screening to quickly detect and initiate treatment for patients.

The testing unit, roughly the size of a small handheld box, contains multiple vertical strips, each calibrated to identify a specific substance. Labels on the panel correspond to drugs such as amphetamines, methamphetamine, benzodiazepines, opioids, cocaine, cannabis, and barbiturates, among others, allowing clinicians to screen for up to 12 substances simultaneously.