Each year, over 2 million people with TB go undiagnosed or are diagnosed late because access to rapid molecular testing remains limited, particularly in decentralised and resource-constrained settings. Recent WHO policy guidance has, for the first time, endorsed pooled testing for TB diagnosis, alongside other innovations designed to reduce costs, expand access, and bring testing closer to where people seek care. The Unitaid-funded Start4All consortium, comprising eight partners in Bangladesh, Brazil, Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, and Viet Nam, has generated global multi-country evidence demonstrating that pooled sputum testing can significantly improve access to molecular TB diagnosis while maintaining diagnostic accuracy.

In Phase 1, involving nearly 15,000 participants, pooled sputum testing demonstrated high diagnostic performance while substantially reducing cartridge use and overall costs.This webinar presented findings from the Start4All consortium, highlighting the laboratory, operational, and programmatic value of pooled sputum testing. See the links below for the recording, presentations, resources, and related publications.