The World Health Organization (WHO) has unveiled new recommendations to expand tuberculosis testing globally, emphasizing faster, more affordable methods.
Tuberculosis remains a top infectious disease killer. Current diagnostic challenges in low-resource areas have hindered early detection and treatment. To address this, the WHO now supports near point-of-care molecular tests that can be deployed outside traditional labs, such as in community clinics.
A major innovation is the use of tongue swabs as an alternative to sputum samples. Easier to collect and more patient-friendly, tongue swabs could boost testing rates among adults and teens.
The guidelines also endorse sputum pooling-combining multiple samples to cut costs and speed up results. This method improves lab efficiency and accelerates treatment timelines.
WHO plans to release updated global TB diagnosis guidelines and implementation tools later this year to aid country-level adoption.