Molecular diagnostics integration global meeting report
10–12 July 2019, Geneva, Switzerland
Overview
Despite major progress in the global HIV and tuberculosis (TB) responses over the past 15 years, both diseases continue to be a public health burden in all regions, with inequitable coverage of diagnosis, prevention services and treatment. Effective interventions and services need to target the individuals and populations most in need while maintaining quality and efficiency in rapidly expanding programmes.
Several technologies, both laboratory-based and point-of-care assays, can be used to diagnose and monitor multiple infections and diseases, including HIV and TB but also hepatitis C, human papillomavirus for cervical cancer screening, sexually transmitted infections and outbreak infections. Integrating testing using multiplex or shared technologies can lead to more efficient and cost-effective diagnostic services.
This report summaries a global meeting organized by WHO and the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) with countries and key stakeholders in diagnostics to discuss and find concrete ways to improve and increase access to integrated multiplex technologies and determine how they can be translated into public health policy and ultimately have global impact.
