WHO Recommends Near Point-Of-Care Tests, Tongue Swabs, and Sputum Pooling for TB Diagnosis

26 February 2026

World Health Organization announcement

The World Health Organization (WHO) issued, for the first time, recommendations on new near-point-of-care (NPOC) molecular tests for the diagnosis of TB; easy-to-collect tongue swab samples to simplify and expand access to testing; and a cost-saving sputum pooling strategy to increase testing efficiency for TB and rifampicin-resistant TB.

Read the full announcement here.

Access the new recommendations here.

 

Source: World Health Organization

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• Unitaid: TB Diagnosis to Become More Accessible and Cost-Effective Through Innovative Approaches
• Stop TB Partnership: Pooled Testing for TB Works and Saves Money – 10 years of Stop TB/TB REACH Investments Show That!