In this online exclusive, Dr Neil Polwart, founder of Novarum DX and BBI group head of Mobile, explains why innovative diagnostic technology has a key role to play in HIV testing and prevention.
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HIV remains one of the greatest health challenges facing our generation. With the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaring this year’s World AIDS Day theme as ‘Everybody Counts’, it’s a reminder that millions of HIV sufferers around the world do not have access to essential treatment and diagnostic tools.
Today, we know more about HIV treatment and prevention than any other time in the history of the disease. The WHO data shows more than 36 million people around the world are still living with HIV, and half of those are unaware they are infected — increasing the risk of transmission and people developing AIDS.1
Developing countries bear the strongest burden of the disease. Sub-Saharan Africa for instance, the hardest hit region, is home to nearly 70% of the global population of HIV sufferers, with one in every 25 people living with the disease.2
According to a new report by the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS),3 the majority of men in developing countries do not seek out HIV tests and care because they don’t feel welcome at clinics. As a result, UNAIDS has called for more self-testing options to become available for people to use from the privacy and comfort of their own home.
Mobile enabled Point of Care Testing (POCT) holds the potential to fundamentally redesign the way we monitor, test and treat infectious disease epidemics, particularly in areas with limited public health infrastructure.
The ability to transform a mobile phone into a diagnostic test reader can help local populations to overcome geographical barriers when accessing regular healthcare. Testing can also be performed remotely with the results, of lab-quality, delivered to a field technician or patient directly from the point of care.
Mobile phone connectivity also enables results to be shared securely with healthcare professionals online. Sharing data via a mobile ecosystem helps to monitor the spread of infectious disease and identifies ‘hot spots’ where viruses are rife and in need of more targeted medical resource. This technology also has the potential to help patients monitor their own condition frequently, before reaching the thresholds for treatment decided by clinicians or aid agencies.
Dr Neil Polwart is the Novarum founder and BBI Group head of Mobile with a PhD in Chemistry. He has over a decade of experience in mHealth development within the diagnostic industry, delivering connected health and enabling true point of care technology.
Dr Neil Polwart
Next generation technologies have a major role to play in tackling diseases such as HIV in the developing world, reducing the chances of infection and making diagnostic testing much more accessible.
The fight against AIDS is far from over, however, we are already seeing the benefits of innovative diagnostic technologies, in developing countries, providing an early and accurate diagnosis and empowering people living with HIV to manage their condition and treatment plans.
References:
- World Health Organisation: http://www.who.int/campaigns/aids-day/2017/en/
- UNAIDS factsheet: http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/campaigns/2014/2014gapreport/factsheet
- UNAIDS report: http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/campaigns/blind_spot