At the G7 One Health Summit from 5-7 April in Lyon, France, more than 20 international partners unveiled a global initiative to strengthen health security across human, animal and environmental systems.
The Global One Health Diagnostics Access Compact aims to expand access to affordable, high-quality diagnostics, enabling faster detection of diseases and more effective responses to emerging health threats.
The announcement comes as health systems face increasingly interconnected risks, from climate-driven shifts in disease patterns to rising zoonotic spillovers and antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The Compact sets out four priority areas for action:
The Compact is expected to feed into upcoming G7 and multilateral health commitments, with a focus on embedding diagnostics and surveillance more firmly in global health policy and financing frameworks.
Major funding pledges also accompanied the launch. The European Commission committed €700 million ($818 million) to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, including an upfront €185 million ($216 million), alongside €46.5 million ($54.4 million) for a joint health security partnership and additional investments in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and dengue research. The World Bank announced $750 million for One Health programmes, while Gavi signalled up to $200 million to support African vaccine manufacturing.
With World Tuberculosis (TB) Day on 24 March, the WHO urged countries to speed up action on what is still one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases.
New guidance promotes faster, cheaper tests that can be used closer to where patients routinely seek care. These portable tools deliver results within an hour, helping people start treatment sooner and reducing the spread.
The WHO also recommends simpler sample methods, including tongue swabs for those unable to produce sputum – mucus that can help diagnose respiratory infections – and pooled testing to cut costs. These steps could expand access, especially in low-resource settings.
Global action on TB has saved 83 million lives since 2000, yet funding cuts and slow uptake of diagnostic tools risk reversing gains. The WHO outlines five priority actions to eradicate the disease:
"Investing in TB is a strategic political and economic choice, generating up to $43 in health and economic returns for every dollar spent," said Dr Tereza Kasaeva, Director of WHO’s Department for HIV, Tuberculosis, Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections.
For World TB Day, we published a Forum Stories blog highlighting progress made toward our Ending Workplace TB initiative, which you can read below.
Middle East conflict deepens health crisis: More than 1.1 million people have been displaced and over 1,200 killed as the conflict continues, with attacks damaging health facilities and disrupting medical supply chains. Environmental risks, including toxic “black rain” from strikes on oil sites, are also raising public health concerns. The WHO "calls on all parties to protect civilians and healthcare, ensure unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access and pursue de-escalation of the conflict so communities can begin to recover and move towards peace".
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