WHO recommendations on near-point-of-care TB tests, tongue swabs, and sputum pooling

Summary

Recommendations issued 9 March 2026 — the first time WHO formally endorsed near-point-of-care molecular TB tests, tongue swabs as an alternative to sputum, and sputum pooling to expand molecular testing capacity. Cameroon evidence streams from Start4All and TB Reach Wave 10 — for which I served as Country Data Manager / Data Manager — contributed to the underlying evidence base. LSTM's 27 February 2026 commentary explicitly cited the programme.