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    India to create new essential list to improve access to life-saving diagnostic tests

    Synopsis

    At a later stage, the list is expected to even bring down prices of these tests in the private sector, according to a senior government official close to the development.

    diagnostic
    The government is expected to form a working group to focus on creating an essential diagnostics list .
    NEW DELHI: India has decided to chart out a new national list that could be used to improve access to reliable diagnostic tests in public healthcare facilities, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research. At a later stage, the list is expected to even bring down prices of these tests in the private sector, according to a senior government official close to the development.

    “There was a discussion to create a list of essential diagnostics to regulate the cost and reliability of tests,” said the official on condition of anonymity.

    The government is expected to form a working group to focus on creating an essential diagnostics list (EDL) by the end of the year, ICMR said in a release. The body held a national consultation along with the World Health Organisation and McGill University on Monday to debate the need for such a list, its potential benefits and challenges that would need to be addressed while drafting it, according to the release.

    In the first phase, the list will focus on increasing access to essential diagnostics in primary health centres, one of the participants at the consultation on Monday told ET. The working group is expected to focus on high burden diseases like HIV, tuberculosis and malaria to create its list for these PHCs.

    “This exercise brings the focus back on public healthcare delivery. Right now, there are PHCs that don’t even have a blood pressure monitor,” the official said.

    For instance, only 39% of the PHCs in UP’s Fatehpur district perform malarial parasite testing by slide method, while none of its PHCs conduct tests for blood sugar, typhoid and dengue, according to a presentation made during the consultation on Monday.

    “The National EML in India has been helpful in capping prices of a variety of products, and has increased access to important medicines. The same model could be used for diagnostics. Without diagnostics, good medicines can be wasted, misused or simply not used,” stated ICMR.

    An essential list for diagnostics is expected to improve patient care, detection of outbreaks, increase affordability of tests and reduce out-of-pocket expenses for tests, according to the release. Participants at the consultation also expected the list to reduce abuse of antibiotics that have led to a growing issue of antimicrobial resistance in the country, it added.

    It will also improve regulation and quality of diagnostic tests, strengthen accreditation and quality of diagnostic labs and inspire the research and development of new diagnostic tools, according to the discussion cited by ICMR.

    “I am convinced that essential medicines require essential diagnostics, but diagnostics get little attention, funding and priority,” said Madhukar Pai, director of McGill Global Health Programs. India being the first country to develop a national EDL is a positive step, according to him. “WHO is also developing an EDL, but I think the impact will be seen only at the national level,” he said.


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    ( Originally published on Mar 12, 2018 )
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