Five new projects supported by Global Health EDCTP3 have been launched to develop affordable, field-ready tools that improve the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis (TB) in sub-Saharan Africa. Together, these initiatives represent an investment of more than €10 million and will address persistent gaps in TB care, from delayed diagnosis to limited access to effective treatment.
From rapid blood tests and tongue-swab diagnostics to digital tools that help health workers identify TB in young children, the projects aim to bring promising innovations into frontline health settings, providing solutions that are practical, scalable and affordable for resource-limited health systems.
These are five projects selected under the 2025 Transformative Innovations in Global Health call, which is providing over €20 million to advance breakthrough approaches tackling critical global health challenges.
AddiCAD: combining AI and blood testing to improve TB diagnosis
Around 10 million people develop tuberculosis every year, yet one in four are never diagnosed. AddiCAD combines a blood test with Delft Imaging's AI-powered chest X-ray tool, CAD4TB, to close this gap. An initial study of 600 people showed the combined approach improved TB screening accuracy, moving closer to WHO targets.
The project will now develop a faster, finger-prick version of the blood test with results in minutes, paired with a simple app combining blood and X-ray analysis for health workers. The approach will be tested in around 1,000 patients across The Gambia, Namibia and South Africa.
‘By combining a blood test with X-ray results, AddiCAD could provide a change in how patients with signs of TB are managed. Enhancing triage and confirmatory testing could ensure more patients are rapidly started on treatment, benefiting them and reducing the burden of TB in their communities.’
Stephanus Malherbe, Associate Professor at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, and AddiCAD coordinator.
Global Health EDCTP3 funding: €2.1 million
PRECISE-TBM: developing rapid tests for the deadliest form of TB in children
Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is the most severe form of tuberculosis, affecting the brain and causing death or lifelong disability in many children. Diagnosing it is extremely difficult because its symptoms resemble those of other illnesses and there is no simple, rapid test, often delaying treatment until it is too late.
PRECISE-TBM will build on earlier EDCTP-funded research to develop faster and more accurate diagnostic tests. Researchers have already identified three proteins in spinal fluid that can reliably detect the disease and used them to create a rapid test that delivers results in just 15 minutes. They have also developed a new blood-based test that could avoid the need to collect spinal fluid altogether. Both tests will now be evaluated in more than 500 children with suspected TBM across South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
‘Being able to diagnose TBM rapidly could have a huge impact on the care of children. Most importantly, they could be immediately started on the most appropriate treatment, helping to cut the alarmingly high mortality rates for TBM.’
Prof. Elmi Muller, Dean, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Global Health EDCTP3 funding: €2.1 million
SWAB-IMPACT: replacing sputum samples with a simple tongue swab
Although molecular tests such as GeneXpert have significantly improved tuberculosis detection, access remains a challenge in many sub-Saharan Africa settings. These tests are often expensive, require specialised equipment and depend on sputum samples, which can be difficult to collect, especially from young children and people living with HIV. As a result, many people are not diagnosed nor treated quickly enough.
SWAB-IMPACT will evaluate PlusLife MTB, a new point-of-care test that uses a simple tongue swab instead of a sputum sample and has shown accuracy comparable to current molecular tests. The study will compare the new approach with standard TB testing in communities across South Africa and Zambia, assessing whether it helps more people complete testing, receive a diagnosis and start treatment within seven days.
‘The PlusLife MTB test holds great promise as a quick, simple and affordable way to detect TB close to the bedside. However, we need to understand if it can change how healthcare workers make decisions about TB treatment and benefit patients before widespread adoption. We hope it can ultimately reduce the number of patients missing out on life-saving TB treatment.’
Dr Ankur Gupta-Wright, Scientific lead for SWAB-IMPACT and Clinician-Scientist at the University of Heidelberg, Germany
Global Health EDCTP3 funding: €2.3 million, with additional €437,000 of co-investment committed by contributing partners.
ACT4KIDS-TB: pairing AI with rapid tests to detect TB in young children
Each year, an estimated 1.25 million children develop TB, yet fewer than half are diagnosed and receive treatment. Among children who die from TB, 96% were never treated, with the vast majority under the age of five.
ACT4KIDS-TB will develop an app to help health workers decide whether a child with suspected tuberculosis should start treatment or not. The app will combine World Health Organization guidance with two innovative tools: Actiphage, a finger-prick blood test that can detect TB bacteria within hours, and AI-assisted analysis of chest X-rays. The approach will be tested in around 200 children with suspected TB in Benin and South Africa to assess whether it helps diagnose more children, and more quickly, than current practice.
‘The ACT4KIDS-TB project seeks to unite multiple technological innovations, creating a tool suitable for use at the bedside in sub-Saharan African health facilities. It brings together sites from East, West and Southern Africa, alongside key scientific and technology partners from Europe.’
Ine Oliwa, Paediatrician and senior clinical researcher at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium
Global Health EDCTP3 funding: €2 million
TEST4TPT: bringing AI-supported TB prevention testing into communities
TEST4TPT will evaluate SIILTIBCY, an affordable skin test that can be carried out and read in the community, reducing the need for people to return to a health clinic. The project will combine the test with two new tools: a QR-coded SmartPatch to ensure it is applied correctly and an AI-powered app to interpret the skin reaction and record the results. After confirming that the approach works reliably in different age groups in Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda, researchers will assess whether it helps more household contacts of people with TB to start and complete preventive treatment.
‘People in close contact with persons with TB face a markedly increased risk of infection and subsequent progression to TB disease. While TB preventive treatment can stop this progression, timely identification of exposed contacts remains difficult. Bridging this gap, delivering preventive treatment to those who need it, when and where they need it, is the challenge we are tackling.’
Dr Christiaan Mulder, Senior Epidemiologist at the KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation, the Netherlands, and TEST4TPT coordinator.
Global Health EDCTP3 funding: €2.2 million
- Publication date
- 3 September 2026
- Author
- Global Health EDCTP3 Joint Undertaking