Resources

Diagnostics are fundamental to accurate detection of disease and critical to informing effective clinical care and selection of treatment. Yet access to diagnostic testing has remained poor and inequitable in many parts of the world. Approximately 47 percent of the global population has little to no access to diagnostics. This challenge is particularly evident in low- and middle-income countries, where only 19 percent of patients have access to appropriate diagnostics at the primary health care level.To develop this report, PATH collaborated with Accenture to investigate access challenges within the diagnostics ecosystems in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia to identify market failures and market-shaping interventions needed for LMICs and close the existing diagnostics gap. The report highlights existing market failures across the diagnostics value chain and provides recommendations for expanded access to quality diagnostics in low- and middle-income countries.Click here to view an interactive dashboard of diagnostic companies with a manufacturing presence based in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.

While Uganda has made significant progress in increasing access to immunization in recent years, vaccine inequity remains a challenge. The COVID-19 pandemic has further disrupted immunization efforts and disproportionately affected women and children in communities where vaccine coverage was already low. Disruption of immunization services, even for brief periods, can raise the likelihood of outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases such as measles and polio, which can lead to increased morbidity and mortality and a greater burden on health systems already constrained by the pandemic.

From 2018-2022, the Devices, Diagnostics, and Drugs to AddressWomen’s Needs (D3AWN) Product Development Partnership (PDP)program advanced a portfolio of four products for the prevention andmanagement of postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) and preeclampsia/eclampsia (PE/E) in African markets: the Ellavi uterine balloontamponade (UBT), LifeAssay Test-it™ protein-to-creatinine (PrCr)Urinalysis Dipstick Test, RELI Delivery system, and oxytocin insublingual fast-dissolving tablet formulation.

This brief aims to provide an overview of point-of-care (POC) glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) diagnostics and to point readers in the direction of additional in-depth resources. The content below explains why G6PD testing is necessary, how G6PD status is classified and measured, which diagnostics are commercially available and what studies have been conducted with them, and considerations for successfully adopting G6PD testing. The audiences that may find this brief most useful are national malaria program staff, malaria project implementers, and others seeking a high-level understanding of G6PD diagnostics that could be used in malaria elimination efforts. The information contained within this document was accurate to our knowledge at the time of publication, but please bear in mind that this is a fast-moving field of emerging evidence.

Since 1980, PATH has been working alongside leaders, communities, and local change makers to develop sustainable systems for tackling shifting health challenges in Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, Cambodia, and the Philippines.