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The healthcare response to infectious disease

Managing the spread of infectious disease

Curbing the spread of infectious disease is a battle fought on many fronts. In many cases, rapid and accurate diagnosis is the first and most effective step in meeting this challenge with information and education being critical tools for control.

Screening is the first line of defence, not only for the individual at risk of a worsening condition, but for wider communities. Healthcare providers can share outbreak data with researchers and governmental authorities, allowing for the creation of health management action plans at an individual, a local or even national level.

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Screening best practice

 

While there is a need for access to the most up-to-date clinical information and diagnostic tools for patients presenting with clear symptoms, there are other occasions when a proactive approach to screening and healthcare intervention is appropriate to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

In particular, it is important to identify vulnerable and high-risk groups such as pregnant women1 and infants, the elderly2, immunocompromised and those travelling from areas with a high incidence of infectious disease.

Screening of blood donors is essential to the safe supply of blood products and Roche is at the forefront of making sure the supply is kept safe from infectious diseases.

Roche’s contribution has been such that its solutions have been used in the screening for infectious disease of one-third of blood and plasma donated worldwide in 2015.3 Roche Diagnostics provides the technologies that support a timely and reliable blood supply.

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An effective and reliable screening program is critical to maintaining the front line in infectious disease control and prevention.

Accessibility to the most appropriate screening solutions is just the start for healthcare professionals. Reliable screening can be followed by dependable diagnostic monitoring tools that measure viral load and determine if the treatment/management path is successful.

Making quality diagnostic tests more accessible is indicative of Roche’s ongoing commitment to fight the global spread of disease. For healthcare providers to combat and contain infectious diseases worldwide, they need to be able to analyze, manage and share information, specifically with the patient at the center of everything.

As new threats emerge, informed and equipped healthcare systems will be able to respond more quickly, and move ever closer to the goal of eradication. Roche Diagnostics will continue to be at the forefront of the fight against infectious disease through ceaseless innovation in diagnostic solutions as part of their ultimate goal: Doing now what patients need next.

Through initiatives like the Global Access Program, Roche Diagnostics is working hard to deliver quality diagnostic solutions to those who need them most, wherever they are.

The Global Access Program’s HIV viral load testing led to 1.5 million infant diagnosis tests3 in 2015 alone. Since then, we have surpassed over seven million infant diagnosis tests. This program is contributing to UNAIDS stated goal of 90% of people knowing their HIV status, 90% of those who know their status receiving treatment, and 90% of people on treatment with a suppressed viral load by 2020.

In 2019, the program was expanded to include Tuberculosis, Hepatitis B and C and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and Roche is seeking to match its successes HIV diagnostics in these three, challenging diseases.

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References

  1. UK Government. Updated standards for infectious diseases in pregnancy. https://phescreening.blog.gov.uk/2018/04/11/updated-standards-for-infectious-diseases-in-pregnancy/ Accessed October 30, 2019.
  2. Healio Infectious Disease News. Comorbidities, metabolic changes make elderly more susceptible to infection. https://www.healio.com/infectious-disease/news/print/infectious-disease-news/%7Ba029cda7-ca04-4b1e-98ae-677d27670ceb%7D/comorbidities-metabolic-changes-make-elderly-more-susceptible-to-infection Accessed October 30, 2019.
  3. Data on file