Health care is an essential human right – and so is a proper diagnosis

[Indigophoton]

Health is a human right. And yet, the sad reality is that, 40 years after the Alma Ata declaration pledging “Health For All,” half the world is still without access to essential health-care services.

To address the global health-care crisis, all countries must commit to the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, which include Universal Health Coverage. This involves financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.

In a path-breaking development, 40 years after publishing the first Essential Medicines List, the World Health Organization (WHO) this week published the first Essential Diagnostics List.

This new list will greatly enhance the impact of the Essential Medicines List (EML). After all, essential medicines require essential diagnostics.

While everyone accepts the importance of essential medicines and vaccines, there is little acknowledgement of the central importance of diagnosis — the first, critical step in the management of all diseases.

The first EDL, compiled by a WHO expert advisory group on in-vitro diagnostics, contains 113 tests.

Of these, 58 are basic tests (e.g. hemoglobin, blood glucose, complete blood count, urine dipstick) intended for detection and diagnosis of a wide range of common communicable and non-communicable conditions.

These basic lab tests form the basis for an essential package of tests at the level of primary care and higher. The remaining 55 tests are designed for the detection, diagnosis and monitoring of “priority” infections — namely HIV, TB, malaria, hepatitis B and C, human papillomavirus (HPV) and syphilis.

All tests included in the EDL are backed by existing WHO evidence-based guidelines. The list is presented in two tiers: Primary health care and health care facilities with clinical laboratories.

WHO will update the EDL on a regular basis, just as the EML is kept updated. WHO has plans to expand the list significantly over the next few years, and to include tests for antimicrobial resistance, emerging infections, neglected tropical diseases and additional noncommunicable diseases.

https://theconversation.com/amp/hea...uman-right-and-so-is-a-proper-diagnosis-96397