To support WHO member countries in their efforts to implement new policy recommendations for TB diagnostic testing, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Stop TB Partnership have published today the TB near point-of-care and swab-based testing toolkit (NPOC/swab toolkit). This comprehensive set of tools is designed to support implementation of TB near point-of-care nucleic acid amplification tests (NPOC-NAATs) for swabs of sputum and tongue swabs to diagnose tuberculosis (TB) with and without drug resistance.
NPOC-NAATs, a new class of diagnostics recently recommended by WHO, complement other molecular tests recommended for the diagnosis of TB by enabling testing programmes to expand services down to basic laboratories, primary health-care facilities and community settings – bringing testing closer to where people seek care. Tongue swabs are also newly recommended for use with both NPOC-NAAT and low-complexity automated NAATs among adults and adolescents who cannot produce sputum – allowing these individuals who are often at increased risk of TB morbidity and mortality to be tested for disease with accurate molecular assays.
Built to be flexible and easily adapted at the country level, the NPOC/swab toolkit offers practical resources such as:
- readiness assessment checklists;
- training slides, checklists and competency assessment tools;
- a method verification protocol for near point-of-care testing that can be used by national programmes and decentralized testing sites;
- standard operating procedures (SOPs) and job aids for specimen collection and testing;
- a site-level capacity calculator to project local test, instrument, and battery capacity needs; and
- automated monitoring and evaluation (M&E) spreadsheets.
This NPOC/swab toolkit aims to accelerate evidence-based, quality-assured scale-up of these new TB diagnostic interventions by equipping countries with practical, ready-to-use tools that can be tailored to align with national guidelines and programmatic priorities. By enabling more accessible and efficient TB testing strategies, the toolkit has the potential to strengthen early detection and diagnosis of TB toward achieving global End TB targets.
WHO would like to thank the technical experts that contributed to the toolkit development or review, including, but not limited to, the R2D2 TB Network, the Stop TB Partnership, and GLI Core Group.