The integration of tuberculosis and HIV testing on GeneXpert can substantially improve access and same-day diagnosis and benefit tuberculosis programmes: A diagnostic network optimization analysis in Zambia.

Diagnostic network optimization (DNO), a geospatial optimization technique, can improve access to diagnostics and reduce costs through informing policy-makers' decisions on diagnostic network changes. In Zambia, viral load (VL) testing and early infant diagnosis (EID) for HIV has been performed at centralized laboratories, whilst the TB-programme utilizes a decentralized network of GeneXpert platforms. Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended point-of-care (POC) EID/VL to increase timely diagnosis.

Bringing Data Analytics to the Design of Optimized Diagnostic Networks in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Process, Terms and Definitions.

Diagnostics services are an essential component of healthcare systems, advancing universal health coverage and ensuring global health security, but are often unavailable or under-resourced in low- and middle-income (LMIC) countries. Typically, diagnostics are delivered at various tiers of the laboratory network based on population needs, and resource and infrastructure constraints. A diagnostic network additionally incorporates screening and includes point-of-care testing that may occur outside of a laboratory in the community and clinic settings; it also emphasizes the importance of supportive network elements, including specimen referral systems, as being critical for the functioning of the diagnostic network.

Designing and Piloting a Specimen Transport System in Burkina Faso.

Efficient specimen transport systems are critical for early disease detection and reporting by laboratory networks. In Burkina Faso, centralized reference laboratories receive specimens from multiple surveillance sites for testing, but transport methods vary, resulting in potential delays and risk to specimen quality. The ministry of health and partners, under the Global Health Security Agenda implementation, piloted a specimen transport system for severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) surveillance in 4 Burkina Faso districts.