Tag: equity

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Add Resources - Scaling Up & Sustainability

RFP: Community-Based Applications of SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Diagnostic Tests (Ag RDTs) for Timely and Effective Public Health Response

Health Poverty Action Visiting Hospitals at Kompong Chhnang & Battambong Province

Testing for SARS-CoV-2 infection is essential for the control of COVID-19, enabling epidemiological surveillance and implementation of public health measures. At the community level, swift identification and isolation of new cases, combined with contact tracing, are important tools for controlling virus transmission.

In December 2021, FIND’s Global Health Security (GHS) Operational Research (OR) team commissioned 17 community-based SARS-CoV-2 testing approaches in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). The selection process was highly competitive as it became widely recognized among public health specialists that a health center-based approach was insufficient with regards to reducing SARS-CoV-2 transmission within communities. The proposals selected all demonstrated a clear community-based strategy for using SARS-CoV-2 antigen diagnostic tests for a timely and effective public health response.

The studies commissioned took place in 13 countries: Uganda, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Jamaica, Cameroon, Zambia, Kenya, Thailand, Suriname, Mozambique, South Africa, Mali, and Tanzania. More information on the outcomes of these research studies will be available in 2023. 

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Add Resources - Scaling Up & Sustainability

RFP: Innovations in COVID-19 Antigen RDT Rollout in Underserved Populations

Street scene outside the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, Delhi.December 2017Photo credit: FIND / Ben Phillips

Searching for innovative ways to implement screening programmes for SARS-CoV-2 in underserved communities,  the ACT-Accelerator, FIND and IRD Global issued this request for proposals in May 2021.

The focus of the programmes was low- and middle-income countries. Globally stark inequities exist, with these countries not having adequate access to diagnostics during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator is a global collaboration focused on accelerating the development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines. 

FIND is a global non-profit organization focusing on diagnostics for major diseases, and IRD Global is a global health delivery and research organization.

The project was projected to involve customizing training materials, conducting training and proficiency assessment of trainees, and implementing and monitoring testing programmes within local policies and guidelines. 

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Resource Centre - Media & Press

Test to protect: equal access to diagnostics for all 

Health Poverty Action Visiting Hospitals at Kompong Chhnang & Battambong Province

On this episode of the Global Health Matters podcast, FIND CEO Bill Rodriguez and Sikhulile Moyo, who led the team that helped discover the Omicron variant in Botswana, to discuss key questions such as “how available are essential diagnostics in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)?” in an effort to understand the state of diagnostic testing in LMICs and how to achieve equity in access to testing in all countries.

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Resource Centre - Media & Press

COVID Testing Equity: A Reflection Based on 1.5 Years in the ACT-Accelerator

Street scene outside the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, Delhi.December 2017Photo credit: FIND / Ben Phillips

Dr. Fifa Rahman, Prof Brook Baker, and Dr. Carolyn Gomes, ACT-A CSO Representatives for the Diagnostics and Therapeutics Pillars, have come together to author an op-ed on the need to accelerate testing equity for diagnostics and other COVID-19 tools. 

At the time of writing, access to rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and self-tests for COVID-19 were widely accessible in the Global North, but access in the Global South was far more constrained. The authors urgently call upon global health actors within the ACT-Accelerator to take action, including calling on WHO to accelerate development of guidelines for self-testing.

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Resource Centre - Publications

The Lancet Commission on diagnostics: transforming access to diagnostics

Diagnostics are an essential part of a well functioning and high-quality health system. Yet, almost half of the global population has little or no access to diagnostics. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown acutely that diagnostic capacity in a country is directly linked to the ability to respond to the pandemic with appropriate public health measures and to monitor emerging variants. There is an urgent need to strengthen diagnostics for future pandemic preparedness but also beyond pandemics. Diagnostics are central to an accurate diagnosis of communicable and non-communicable diseases, to guide therapy, monitor progress, and assess response to treatment. The Commission puts forward recommendations to accelerate and transform access to diagnostics globally.

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