The World Health Organization called for urgent scale-up of near point-of-care tuberculosis diagnostics, announcing updated guidance for new molecular testing approaches during World Tuberculosis Day. WHO endorsed a new class of near point-of-care (nPOC) molecular tests and recommended nPOC NAATs on sputum as initial diagnostic tests in adults and adolescents with signs and symptoms of pulmonary TB or positive screening. WHO also endorsed tongue swab testing when sputum cannot be obtained, again as an initial diagnostic strategy. In settings where individual sample testing is constrained, the agency endorsed low-complexity automated NAATs on pooled expectorated sputum samples (up to four pooled specimens) as an alternative initial strategy. In the guidance, WHO cited examples intended to meet performance criteria, including Pluslife’s rapid battery-powered isothermal amplification system and Cepheid’s Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra. WHO emphasized that each dollar invested in TB can generate substantial health and economic returns while warning that essential TB services must be protected amid funding constraints. The recommendations place portable molecular testing and pooled workflow designs at the center of rollout plans, targeting faster decision-making in resource-limited and decentralized care models.