Global inequity of COVID-19 diagnostics: challenges and opportunities

Diagnostics for COVID-19 have advanced at an unprecedented pace over the last 2 years. Testing is a critical pillar of pandemic control and is required for epidemiological tracking, treatment and surveillance. Despite high-quality SARS-CoV-2 viral diagnostic capability, there are vast global inequities in access. The Virology, Immunology, and Diagnostics Working Group (WG) of the COVID-19 Clinical Research Coalition (CRC) brings together experts in immunology, infectious diseases and microbiology to advocate for equity-based COVID-19 research, prioritising solutions driven by communities in low-income and lower middle-income countries (LMICs).1 This commentary reflects the unique perspective of the WG on the asymmetry in COVID-19 diagnostic access between low-income and high-income settings, the barriers to these disparities and highlights opportunities to remedy these inequities. Two COVID-19 pandemics Two parallel COVID-19 pandemics are occurring. High and upper-middle income countries have widespread and affordable access to testing and high vaccination rates. In contrast, LMICs...
Source: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health - Category: Epidemiology Authors: Tags: COVID-19 Commentaries Source Type: research