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Blind spots in the implementation of point-of-care diagnostics for underserved communities

Nature Reviews Bioengineering volume 1, pages 876–878 (2023)Cite this article

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Point-of-care (POC) diagnostics are particularly important in resource-limited settings. However, to ensure their sustainability, deployment and uptake by underserved communities, systemic, infrastructural, operational and logistical limitations need to be addressed.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank TIBA (tackling infections to benefit Africa) and REASSURED-d@UP for providing platforms for the generation of some of the insights included in this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Health Sciences and Public Health, Faculty of Health Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Tivani P. Mashamba-Thompson & Lorraine Tsitsi Pfavayi

  2. Institute of Immunology & Infection Research, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Lorraine Tsitsi Pfavayi & Francisca Mutapi

  3. Tackling Infections to Benefit Africa (TIBA) Partnership, Ashworth Laboratories, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Lorraine Tsitsi Pfavayi & Francisca Mutapi

Authors
  1. Tivani P. Mashamba-Thompson
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  2. Lorraine Tsitsi Pfavayi
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  3. Francisca Mutapi
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Contributions

All authors contributed equally to the preparation of this manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tivani P. Mashamba-Thompson.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Related links

Africans “don’t know what Western time is”: https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/11/opinion/in-america-refusing-to-save-africans.html

Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND): https://www.finddx.org/

Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) fund): https://www.ghitfund.org/

Malaria and Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT): https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/trypanosomiasis-human-african-(sleeping-sickness)

PATH: https://www.path.org/solutions/diagnostics/

REASSURED-d@UP: https://www.up.ac.za/faculty-of-health-sciences-research/article/3115468/university-of-pretoria-reassured-diagnostics-research-group

REASSURED (real-time connectivity, ease of sample collection, affordable, sensitive, specific, user-friendly, rapid, equipment-free, delivered) criteria: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-assured-reassured-world-health-organizations-point-breakell/

The lack of roads, shortages of doctors and hospitals and wars may prevent the delivery of HIV treatment: https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/11/opinion/in-america-refusing-to-save-africans.html

The supply chain should be shortened through local production: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/shortening-supply-chain-rapid-point-care-diagnostics-local-mangwanya/

TIBA (tackling infections to benefit Africa): https://www.ed.ac.uk/global-health/research/research-programmes/tackling-infections-to-benefit-africa-tiba-partner

Which affect 1.7 billion people globally: https://southafrica.un.org/en/sdgs/3

WHO Tropical Disease Research (TDR) program: https://tdr.who.int/

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Mashamba-Thompson, T.P., Pfavayi, L.T. & Mutapi, F. Blind spots in the implementation of point-of-care diagnostics for underserved communities. Nat Rev Bioeng 1, 876–878 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44222-023-00127-4

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