Can integrated multi-testing strengthen TB care and help detect more in one visit?
Public health experts are debating the feasibility of integrated multi-disease testing for conditions like TB, HIV, and hepatitis. While diagnostic platforms can technically identify multiple pathogens, experts warn that the primary challenge remains the requirement for different types of clinical specimens for each disease.
Why it matters
Improving diagnostic efficiency is critical for global health, but this analysis clarifies the biological limitations of 'one-stop' testing solutions.
In 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued an information note on multi-disease testing devices in integrated laboratory networks, saying such platforms could improve efficiency, reduce costs and increase patient access by allowing disease-specific tests for TB, HIV and viral hepatitis on a common platform. WHO has subsequently continued to support diagnostic integration.
In September 2025, WHO announced the development of its first guideline specifically on multiplex testing, describing it as the use of one sample and a single assay or platform to detect multiple infections simultaneously. The proposed guidance covers HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections and is intended to establish principles for integrated testing.
But an important distinction here is, a common diagnostic platform is not the same as a common patient sample.
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