RAFFAELLA’S LITERATURE UPDATE
Be-cause Health & QUAMED literature updates
Ref The selection and use of essential in vitro diagnostics: report of the third meeting of the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on In Vitro Diagnostics, 2020 (including the third WHO model list of essential in vitro diagnostics). Geneva: World Health Organization; 2021 (WHO Technical Report Series, No. 1031). Licence: CC BY‑NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
Dear Friend,
Many among us will remind that to address the lack of access to tests and testing services, the WHO since 2018 has published an essential diagnostics list (EDL), that is a basket of recommended in vitro diagnostics that should be available at point-of-care and in laboratories in all countries to increase timely and life-saving diagnoses. The latest edition, published a few days ago, “includes WHO-recommended COVID-19 tests (PCR and Antigen), expands the suite of tests for vaccine-preventable and infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases (such as cancer and diabetes), and introduces a section on endocrinology, which is important for reproductive and women’s health. For the first time, the list includes tests that should not be supplied in countries, either because they are not cost-effective, are unreliable or have been surpassed by newer, easier to use technologies” (this new section is called “Do Not Do recommendations” and it includes for the time being two tests, one for HIV and one for TB).
Like the Essential Medicines List (EML), the WHO EDL is not prescriptive: “it is intended as a policy tool for countries to create their own national lists based on their local context and needs. WHO will shortly also publish a step-by-step guide to aid countries wishing to develop a national list”. For those who wish to consult the list, please note that it is published as Annex I (p. 273) to the broader report on selection and use of essential in-vitro diagnostics, which can be downloaded here: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240019102
On a separate note, I would like to remind you that our IDDO friends are publishing every month a “Medical Product Quality Reports about substandard and falsified (SF) COVID-19 medical products”, with data from scientific literature, public alerts and warnings, and lay press. It is a very informative tool, and you can access it at this website: https://www.iddo.org/mq/research/medical-product-quality-reports
Have a nice reading,
Raffaella