In brief
On 7 November 2026 the World Health Organization inaugurated a collaborating center for STI prevention and innovations in Guangzhou, China. The center, hosted by Southern Medical University, aims to train specialists, develop point‑of‑care testing strategies and launch surveillance tools, with priority focus on Africa and Southeast Asia. The initiative reflects China‑WHO collaboration and the country’s broader global health outreach.
On 7 November 2026 the World Health Organization opened a new collaborating centre for sexually transmitted infection prevention and innovations in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province in southern China. The facility is co‑hosted by the Dermatology Hospital of Southern Medical University and the university’s Institute for Global Health and is designed to strengthen disease‑control capacity in low‑ and middle‑income countries worldwide.
The centre’s director, Yang Bin, explained that it will conduct systematic, forward‑looking international research focused on three core areas: capacity building, testing innovation and surveillance system development. With capacity building, the goal is to develop a standardized training series and by 2030 to train a cohort of 100 senior STI prevention professionals for 15 target countries.
“The priority regions for the centre are Africa and Southeast Asia,” Yang noted, stressing the need for scalable, practical solutions that can be deployed in diverse health settings. Among the expected outputs are three to five point‑of‑care testing strategies. Point‑of‑care testing refers to diagnostic tests that can be performed quickly at the location where the patient is seen, rather than in a central laboratory. This approach can accelerate treatment decisions and reduce disease transmission.
For surveillance, the centre will design data‑collection tools that are standardized, simple and easy to use. The instruments will undergo pilot verification and localized application in selected African countries before being integrated into an operational data‑sharing platform that aligns with international systems.
WHO’s lay‑person Hannah Monica Dias said the centre would deepen the organisation’s engagement in developing relevant global guidelines, provide research evidence to supplement national strategies and offer expert advice to support public‑health governance.
China’s commitment to multilateral health cooperation underpins the new centre. In 2025, the country dispatched 1,061 medical personnel to 57 countries and delivered services to more than 2.06 million patients. China has also supported malaria control efforts and partnered with WHO under the Country Cooperation Strategy 2022‑2026 to pilot people‑centred integrated health‑delivery systems. Joint initiatives have helped advance schistosomiasis elimination in Cambodia and Laos.
In the opening ceremony, officials highlighted that the collaborating centre would serve as a hub for scientific exchange, training and technology transfer. The partnership with Southern Medical University is expected to leverage the university’s expertise in dermatology, an area closely linked to STI management.
Yang Bin envisioned the centre not only as a training hub but also as a research laboratory. The facility aims to accelerate the development of diagnostics and mobile health tools that can be deployed rapidly in resource‑constrained settings. By building local expertise, the centre hopes to reduce the burden of venereal disease in affected populations.
WHO experts anticipate that the integration of standardized training and innovative diagnostic tools will improve early detection and treatment of STIs, which are a major public‑health concern. Early detection is critical because many STIs are asymptomatic yet can lead to serious complications if left untreated.
“The centre’s work complements global efforts to curb STI spread through better surveillance, faster diagnostics, and stronger health‑system capacity,” said a WHO spokesperson, citing the centre’s alignment with international priorities on health security.
Ultimately, the Guangzhou centre represents a strategic effort to combine scientific research, practical technology development, and knowledge transfer to reduce STI prevalence in regions that face the greatest health challenges.
