Point of Care tests

The need for patients to be able to access tests and rapidly obtain results has long been recognised a gap and potential solution for optimal health care. Innovation has led to the development of new tests that can be performed within the primary healthcare setting. They can bypass the standard route of delivery of patient specimens to the local laboratory. They are useful especially in rural settings where laboratories may be located some distance away. They also need to be reliable, simple and quick to use or healthcare workers. Some are expensive and have their challenges, e.g., the need to collect accurate data results and quality assurance. Tests include:

  • Urinary lipoarabinomannan (LAM)
  • CD4 count, e.g., PIMA machine
  • Viral load (VL) test
  • Cryptococcal antigen (CrAg)

In South Africa, some of these have already been introduced, while others have been used in pilot trials while we await others