Maximizing the Delivery Performance of Point-of-Care CD4+ T-Cell Counting Tests in Resource-Limited Settings - A Policy Brief

Authors

Nan Kong, Purdue UniversityFollow
J. Paul Robinson, Purdue UniversityFollow
Fenggang Yang, Purdue UniversityFollow

Abstract

Managing HIV/AIDS presents challenges to public health policymakers, frontline workers, and researchers worldwide. A key strategy in the disease management is early diagnosis and rapid treatment initiation. While the technological field of point‐of‐care HIV/AIDS diagnostics has advanced significantly in the past two decades, several critical issues remain that hinder the deployment of point‐of‐care testing devices in resource‐deprived settings. In this policy brief, we discuss these issues, including technological specifics of point‐of‐care CD4⁺ T‐cell counting approaches and requirements of deploying them. We also discuss cultural and religious concerns on the deployment. At the end of the brief, we propose a roadmap for the efficient and cost‐effective deployment and call for action to assemble multidisciplinary teams for the undertaking. We argue that joint effort must be taken to conduct research and development for low‐cost portable point‐of‐care testing and for tailoring the technology deployment and care delivery support system design for specific cohorts.

Recommended Citation

Kong, Nan; Robinson, J. Paul; and Yang, Fenggang (2013) "Maximizing the Delivery Performance of Point-of-Care CD4+ T-Cell Counting Tests in Resource-Limited Settings - A Policy Brief," Purdue Policy Research Institute (PPRI) Policy Briefs: Vol. 1 : Iss. 1, Article 5.
Available at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/gpripb/vol1/iss1/5