The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued new guidelines endorsing rapid point-of-care tests and tongue swabs for tuberculosis (TB), aimed to bring lifesaving detection to communities worldwide and accelerate progress toward ending one of the deadliest infectious diseases.
Announced on World TB Day, the new tools represent a paradigm shift in TB diagnosis. The newly recommended portable molecular tests can be used near the point-of-care, operate on battery power, and deliver accurate results in under one hour—all at less than half the cost of many existing molecular diagnostics. By bringing testing closer to where people routinely seek care, these innovations allow patients to start treatment sooner and help curb transmission.
“These new tools could be truly transformative for tuberculosis, by bringing fast, accurate diagnosis closer to people, saving lives, curbing transmission and reducing costs, WHO calls on all countries to scale up access to these and other tools so every person with TB can be reached and treated promptly.” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
Beyond TB, these devices have the potential to test for other diseases such as HIV, mpox, and HPV, making diagnostics more patient-centered and aligned with integrated service delivery models.
Alongside the new tests, WHO now recommends the use of tongue swabs—a simple, non-invasive collection method that allows adults and adolescents who cannot produce sputum to get tested for the first time. This breakthrough enables disease detection among populations at higher risk of dying from TB. WHO also endorsed a cost-saving sputum pooling strategy, where samples from several individuals are combined and tested together, significantly reducing commodity costs and machine time—an approach particularly valuable when resources are severely constrained.
TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious killers. Each day, more than 3,300 people die from TB, and over 29,000 fall ill with this preventable and curable disease. While global efforts have saved an estimated 83 million lives since 2000, WHO warned that cuts in global health funding threaten to reverse these gains. Uptake of rapid diagnostic tools has been hindered in many countries by high costs and reliance on centralized laboratory testing.
Dr. Tereza Kasaeva, Director of WHO’s Department for HIV, Tuberculosis, Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections, emphasized the urgent need for investment. “What is required now is decisive leadership, strategic investment and rapid implementation of WHO recommendations and innovations to save lives and protect communities,” she said, noting that every dollar invested in TB generates up to US$ 43 in health and economic returns.
Under the World TB Day 2026 theme, “Yes! We can end TB: Led by countries, powered by people,” WHO is urging governments and partners to accelerate rollout of these diagnostic technologies, strengthen people-centered care, and protect essential TB services amid global funding constraints.
Source: WHO
