Africa CDC, AMR Action Fund, AUROBAC Therapeutics, bioMérieux, and ESCMID recently co-hosted a symposium to identify how to improve access and utilization of diagnostics as a means to help mitigate the impact of drug-resistant infections. Held at the Les Pensières Centre for Global Health (France), the symposium convened 45 participants from 16 countries and 39 organizations — including policymakers, healthcare providers, researchers, and industry leaders — came together to address one critical question: How can we improve patient access to diagnostics? 

Stemming from this international event, a new report, “Rising to the Challenge: Utilizing Diagnostics to Combat Infectious Diseases and AMR,” spotlights the urgent need to elevate the role of diagnostics in global health strategies. 

Diagnostics are essential for guiding appropriate antibiotic use, reducing unnecessary prescriptions, and improving patient outcomes. Studies show that testing before prescribing antibiotics can reduce antibiotic use by up to 20%¹, lowering costs and slowing resistance. Yet, despite these benefits, diagnostics remain underutilized and undervalued across health systems.

In high-income countries, where diagnostics are widely available, they are often underused due to misaligned incentives and lack of patient and provider awareness. In low- and middle-income countries, the challenge is even greater: fewer than half of the population has access to basic diagnostic tests. Across Africa, only 1.3% of laboratories² can detect resistant pathogens, leaving millions vulnerable to unchecked infections.

The undervaluation of diagnostics — treating them as costs rather than strategic investments that bring value to the health system and patient — creates a vicious cycle. When policymakers and payers fail to recognize their systemic benefits, clinicians face hurdles that discourage diagnostic use, perpetuating inappropriate antibiotic prescribing and accelerating resistance.

Through collaborative discussions, participants identified three priority areas to unlock the full potential of diagnostics:

1. Understanding and Defining Value
   Develop a common framework for the clinical, economic, and societal benefits of diagnostics. This includes collecting robust data to demonstrate their impact on health outcomes and AMR mitigation.
2. Piloting and Implementing Value Frameworks
   Test innovative approaches like the STRIDES framework, which captures the broader societal benefits of diagnostics, from improved patient care to reduced transmission and long-term health system savings.
3. Advocating for Value
   Use evidence to drive policy reforms, novel reimbursement models, and incentive structures that encourage diagnostic use. Align stakeholders — payers, health technology assessment bodies, providers, and patients — around shared valuation metrics.

Cross-cutting enablers include embedding patient and community perspectives in decision-making, generating high-quality data for policy change, investing in infrastructure and skilled personnel, and breaking down siloed health system budgets. 

Case studies from France and Nigeria demonstrate the transformative impact of diagnostics on antibiotic stewardship, healthcare costs, and patient outcomes. In Nigeria, subsidizing diagnostic costs and improving laboratory capacity led to more targeted antibiotic use, shorter hospital stays, and reduced mortality from sepsis^3,4. French studies showed that linking reimbursement to diagnostic testing improved prescribing practices and reduced unnecessary antibiotic use.

Without urgent action, AMR will continue to erode the effectiveness of antibiotics, impacting patients today and threatening global health security. The report calls for collective action from governments, payers, clinicians, and industry to “make the invisible, visible”—ensuring diagnostics are valued and utilized as strategic tools in the fight against infectious diseases and AMR. As the global health community prepares for upcoming policy milestones, including the 5^th AMR Ministerial in Nigeria and G7 in June 2026 in France, the time is now to prioritize diagnostics for healthier outcomes worldwide.

1. PierreDubois, and Gokce Gokkoca, “Antibiotic Demand in the Presence of Antimicrobial Resistance”, TSE Working Paper, n. 23-1457, July 2023, revised January 2025.
2.  https://africacdc.org/news-item/new-study-reveals-widespread-drug-resistance-across-14-african-countries/
3. Egwuenu A, Ejikeme A, Tomczyk S, et al. Baseline study for improving diagnostic stewardship at secondary health care facilities in Nigeria. Antimicrob Resist Infect Control. 2022;11(1):65. Published 2022 May 3. doi:10.1186/s13756-022-01080-4
4. Akinlawon D, Osaigbovo I, Yahaya M, Makanjuola O, Udoh UA, Nwajiobi-Princewill P, Nwafia I, Peter J, Asamoah I, Peters F, Okafor O, Okwor T, Osibogun A, Ogunsola F, Jordan A, Chiller T and Oladele R (2024) Diagnostic Capacity for Fungal Infections in Tertiary Hospitals in Nigeria and Ghana - An Onsite Baseline Audit of 9 Sites. Int J Public Health 69:1607731. doi: 10.3389/ijph.2024.1607731