REASSURED diagnostics to inform disease control strategies, strengthen health systems and improve patient outcomes

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Abstract

Lack of access to quality diagnostics remains a major contributor to health burden in resource-limited settings. It has been more than 10 years since ASSURED (affordable, sensitive, specific, user-friendly, rapid, equipment-free, delivered) was coined to describe the ideal test to meet the needs of the developing world. Since its initial publication, technological innovations have led to the development of diagnostics that address the ASSURED criteria, but challenges remain. From this perspective, we assess factors contributing to the success and failure of ASSURED diagnostics, lessons learnt in the implementation of ASSURED tests over the past decade, and highlight additional conditions that should be considered in addressing point-of-care needs. With rapid advances in digital technology and mobile health (m-health), future diagnostics should incorporate these elements to give us REASSURED diagnostic systems that can inform disease control strategies in real-time, strengthen the efficiency of health care systems and improve patient outcomes.

Abstract

A Perspective discussing the factors that have contributed to the success and failure of point-of-care tests for resource-limited settings and the challenges and opportunities that exist for developing new infectious disease diagnostics.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Xiang-Sheng Chen: chenxs@ncstdlc.org

Rosanna W. Peeling: rosanna.peeling@lshtm.ac.uk

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Nat Microbiol

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Nat Microbiol

Title: Nature Microbiology

Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK (London )

ISSN (Electronic): 2058-5276

Publication date (Electronic): 13 December 2018

Publication date (Print): 2019

Volume: 4

Issue: 1

Pages: 46-54

Affiliations

[1 ]ISNI 0000 0004 0607 1766, GRID grid.7327.1, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, ; Pretoria, South Africa

[2 ]Global Health Impact Group, Atlanta, GA USA

[3 ]GRID grid.477246.4, Institute of Dermatology, , Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, ; Nanjing, China

[4 ]ISNI 0000 0000 8803 2373, GRID grid.198530.6, National Center for STD Control, , Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, ; Nanjing, China

[5 ]ISNI 0000 0000 9255 8984, GRID grid.89957.3a, Center for Global Health, , Nanjing Medical University, ; Nanjing, China

[6 ]ISNI 0000 0001 0721 1626, GRID grid.11914.3c, Division of Infection and Global Health, School of Medicine, , University of St Andrews, ; St Andrews, Scotland

[7 ]ISNI 0000 0004 0425 469X, GRID grid.8991.9, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, ; London, England

Author information

Kevin J. Land http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8803-8809

Article

Publisher ID: 295

DOI: 10.1038/s41564-018-0295-3

PMC ID: 7097043

PubMed ID: 30546093

SO-VID: 1ee26eeb-d9cb-4403-ac34-0fa1a8a46813

License:

This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.