In October 2021, The Lancet Commission on Diagnostics launched a publication to put the spotlight on the current status of the diagnostic landscape. It highlighted key gaps in global diagnostics and articulated a series of recommendations to act as a roadmap for more equitable access to diagnostics.
The scope of the publication was remarkably broad and the Commission identified fundamental flaws at all levels of the diagnostic provision pathway: infrastructure, workforce, quality, safety, financing, visibility, and policy. Lack of prioritization and scarce allocation of resources were underlined as overarching problems, leading to weak and undersupplied health systems.
Overall, the report provides evidence of poor access to accurate diagnostics for almost half of the global population, especially at the level of primary health care (the so-called diagnostic “last mile”). Diagnosis is shown to be the biggest gap in the cascade of care (comprising screening, diagnosis, treatment, and control), with adverse consequences for the burden of disease.
The publication comes in a timely manner, now that the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored how crucial diagnostics are for early detection and response to emerging infectious diseases. However, the power of diagnostics reaches far beyond epidemic preparedness and control. While initial diagnosis serves as entry point to the care cascade, diagnostics have further implications that range from guidance to therapy and prognosis, to monitoring of disease progression and response to therapy.
Among the Commission’s recommendations are the implementation of point-of-care testing at the primary health care level and the continued fostering of innovation, especially in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs). Reducing the “last mile” diagnostic gap will increase the uptake of health services and improve health outcomes. In fact, the Commission’s analysis has shown that reducing the diagnostic gap for six priority conditions alone (diabetes, hypertension, HIV and tuberculosis in the overall population, and hepatitis B virus infection and syphilis for pregnant women) can avoid over one million premature deaths annualy in LMICs.
Praesens Care is actively endorsing the ten recommendations that are put forward in this publication to help transform access to diagnostics. Beyond offering the above tracer tests on-board of our bioNears, our assay menu has also been largely inspired by the National Essential Diagnostic Lists to best address unmet diagnostic needs in the countries where we operate.
Our spirit embodies a strong will to ensure sustained access to quality diagnostics for everyone. We are committed to a holistic health care delivery model, providing diagnostic capacity that is integrated in the care cascade, embedded in the local health systems, and as close as possible to the patients. We embrace decentralization as a vehicle for change towards a world where health systems are resilient, better prepared, and more equitable.
