Fungal diseases are an increasingly worrying public health issue, with common infections – oral and vaginal thrush – becoming increasingly resistant to treatment. These infections disproportionately affect seriously ill patients and those with weakened immune systems, including people undergoing cancer chemotherapy, living with HIV, or who have had organ transplants.
On 1 April 2025, the WHO published its first ever reports on the critical shortage of medicines and diagnostic tools for invasive fungal diseases (the report is available here), highlighting the urgent need for innovative research and development (R&D) to address these gaps.
The new report on the diagnosis of fungal infections.
This new report shows that while commercial tests for priority fungal pathogens exist, they rely on well-equipped laboratories and trained personnel, meaning that most people in low- and middle-income countries do not have access to them.
The report on antifungal treatments.
This report highlights that over the past decade, only four new antifungal treatments have been approved by regulatory authorities in the United States of America, the European Union or China.