MSF welcomes essential resolution at Planet Well being Assembly to strengthen countries’ illness testing capacity – Planet

Governments should really now implement the resolution to attain purpose of enhancing access to testing for all people today

Background:

26 Might 2023 – Governments passed a resolution these days at the 76th annual Planet Well being Assembly (WHA) to strengthen countries’ diagnostic testing capacity. The resolution was proposed by Indonesia and governments of the African Area. With practically half of the international population obtaining small or no access to testing, Médecins Sans Frontières/Physicians With no Borders (MSF) welcomed this resolution as an important step towards enhancing international access to diagnostic tools. To assure this resolution becomes reality, MSF encourages nations to right away take the expected actions to implement the resolution: nations should really assure that important diagnostic tools and tests are inexpensive and accessible nationwide, and help regional production of diagnostic tools and tests in low- and middle-earnings nations (LMICs).

Dr Salha Issoufou, Director of Operations for MSF West and Central Africa:

“Ignorance is not bliss when you are dealing with illness outbreaks: timely access to the ideal testing tools is a single of the most crucial components of any healthcare intervention to curb an outbreak and save lives, so it is encouraging to see access to testing getting discussed at a international level.

“We are frequently faced with an absence or restricted availability of tests, as there are frequently just no tests on the marketplace that are adapted for the remote, emergency scenarios we operate in. So, we finish up sending samples to far away laboratories, if there are any, which can imply weeks or months of waiting ahead of acquiring benefits. Delays like this can imply delayed responses to outbreaks and lives getting unnecessarily lost, and this is unacceptable. The point is, it does not have to be this way: the COVID pandemic showed us that fast, effortless-to-use diagnostic tests can be abundantly obtainable, as they have been to wealthy nations at the front of the queue. We know it is probable to make tests accessible and obtainable, there should really be no double typical in access to lifesaving healthcare testing.

“We urge all governments to make positive absolutely everyone has access to lifesaving tests by swiftly adopting WHO recommendations in national policies, building national important diagnostics lists (EDL), and making sure nationwide access to important tests for all ailments relevant to the regional context, like neglected ailments, and beyond pandemics alone.”

Stijn Deborggraeve, Diagnostics Advisor, MSF Access Campaign:

“We welcome this essential resolution to strengthen diagnostics capacity, but it have to not stay just ink on paper. To make it a reality for absolutely everyone, everywhere, we urge all governments to implement the resolution and increase access to diagnostic testing by making sure that excellent-assured tests are inexpensive, and by supporting the regional production of diagnostic tools, in particular in low- and middle-earnings nations.

“Every day we see test shortages in the nations exactly where we operate so it is clear that relying on a handful of multinational diagnostics corporations to meet regional wellness requires is not functioning. We will need a lot more prosperous collaborations amongst regional test makers and governments, like Brazil’s Bio-Manguinhos, which produces testing tools at non-profit costs to address regional wellness requires. Simply because, if we hope to increase access to testing for ailments that primarily influence people today in low- and middle-earnings nations, regional production in these nations is essential.”

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Shailly Gupta
+41-79 203 13 02