The DxAMR Collaborative has been profiled in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, which spotlighted the growing momentum behind a global effort to ensure diagnostics take their rightful place at the heart of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) strategies worldwide.
The piece highlights why our work matters, the coalition powering it, and the challenges and opportunities ahead as we push for more equitable access to diagnostic tools – especially in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs).
The Lancet article positions DxAMR as a timely and necessary initiative: a convening platform bringing together governments, research institutes, funders, civil society, industry, and technical partners to align priorities and accelerate innovation, access, and adoption of diagnostics across health systems.
Why diagnostics, why now?
In the article, DxAMR’s Senior Technical Coordinator, Cecilia Ferreyra, articulates a point often overlooked in AMR conversations: we cannot safeguard antimicrobials without strengthening diagnostics. While new drug pipelines attract substantial global attention, diagnostics frequently remain on the periphery of AMR policy discussions.
Yet diagnostics directly shape antimicrobial effectiveness. Ensuring equitable access – and effective use – of diagnostic tools is essential for preventing misuse, guiding appropriate treatment, and protecting the longevity of existing and future antimicrobials.
As Dr Ferreyra emphasises in the piece, “The main aim is to put diagnostics at the centre of the global AMR agenda…we believe that by supporting equitable access to, but also the effective use of, diagnostics, we can protect the effectiveness of new antimicrobials.”
Our strategic priorities
The article outlines DxAMR’s five strategic pillars, all designed to address real-world barriers to diagnostic access and uptake:
- Innovation and evidence generation
- Access and market shaping
- Economics and policy
- Country readiness and capacity
- Regulation and quality governance
This full-system approach reflects our belief that progress in diagnostics requires coordinated action across research, financing, policymaking, and implementation. It is also the basis for our multi-stakeholder working groups, set to launch at a meeting hosted by the Brazilian Ministry of Health in March 2026.
A growing global coalition
The Lancet story shows the depth and diversity of organisations collaborating through DxAMR – from government agencies and research institutes to NGOs, civil society, funders, and industry. This range is intentional: strengthening diagnostics requires voices and expertise from across the ecosystem.
Our collaborative aims to bridge the full pathway from early-stage innovation to scale-up and implementation in health systems. That breadth is essential if we are to achieve meaningful, sustainable improvements in diagnostic access worldwide.
Challenges ahead
Two challenges highlighted in the article echo what many global health actors currently face:
(1) A shifting funding landscape, following reductions in global health spending and the closure of the UK Fleming Fund.
(2) Low awareness and visibility of diagnostics within the broader AMR agenda.
In both areas, DxAMR sees opportunities. New business models, a stronger communications strategy, and clearer global alignment can help ensure diagnostics receive the attention and investment they deserve.
Working together, not in parallel
The article features reflections from Kenneth Fleming, who raises an important point about the risk of fragmentation across global diagnostics initiatives. He emphasises the need for coherence, shared messaging, and collective action – principles that guided DxAMR’s creation from the outset.
DxAMR welcomes collaboration with WHO’s new Global Diagnostics Coalition, and steps are already in motion:
- WHO will sit on DxAMR’s steering committee
- A Memorandum of Understanding is under development
- Both groups aim to ensure aligned, mutually reinforcing efforts rather than parallel tracks
Where we go from here
Over the coming months, DxAMR will finalise its governance structure, financial model, and working group architecture. The collaborative’s next major milestone will be the working-group launch in Brazil – a key moment to define priorities across R&D, digital and AI, access, economics, in-country support, regulation, and quality assurance.
The Lancet Infectious Diseases profile marks a significant moment for the DxAMR Collaborative: recognition that diagnostics deserve a central place in the global AMR response. For us, this is more than coverage – it is momentum.
You can find the full publication in The Lancet Infectious Diseases here.
