Blueprint for strengthening responses to fungal disease and antifungal resistance

Overview

The Blueprint for strengthening responses to fungal disease and antifungal resistance Implementation guidance, provides a structured, operational framework to support countries and partners in strengthening coordinated responses to fungal disease and antifungal resistance (AFR).

Fungal diseases and AFR are associated with significant morbidity and mortality globally, yet remain under-recognized, underdiagnosed and under-resourced in many national and global health settings. Building on the WHO Fungal Priority Pathogens List and aligned with the Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance and other relevant WHO strategies and health system frameworks, the Blueprint responds to requests from Member States, regional bodies and global partners for practical guidance to operationalize global priorities and strengthen national and regional responses.

The guidance identifies critical gaps across awareness, workforce capacity, diagnostics, access to treatment, surveillance, stewardship and research — particularly in low- and middle-income countries — and presents integrated, equity-oriented and One Health approaches to help address them.

Organized around four interconnected domains — public health and health system interventions; therapies, technologies and innovation systems; laboratory systems, surveillance and outbreak preparedness; and social, environmental and One Health drivers — the Blueprint sets out prioritized, feasible and context-adaptable actions to support countries and partners in translating global priorities into coordinated implementation, with measurable outputs and outcomes.