FIND forum brings together public and private stakeholders to strengthen medical diagnostics in India

• Pharma and diagnostics leaders focus on innovations to diagnose endemic diseases faster, more efficiently  

Delhi, April 14, 2016: FIND today organized a forum entitled: ‘Swasth Bharat: Better outcomes through better diagnosis’ at Hotel Shangri La in New Delhi. FIND is a global non-profit organization supporting the development, evaluation and use of high-quality, affordable diagnostic tests. This event, a first for FIND, brought together key stakeholders from the public, private and non-profit sectors to focus on the advancement of medical diagnostic tests in India.

The forum provided a platform for leaders with diverse health backgrounds to share insights on tackling some of the most pressing healthcare challenges facing us today, such as tuberculosis and hepatitis C, and the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. It was agreed that Government, the medical industry and the research community must work together to address gaps in providing patients with timely and accurate disease diagnosis.

Reflecting on the day’s discussions, Mark Kessel, FIND Board Chair, said, “Global health goals will not be met without accessible tests for priority diseases. What we need now is a collaborative effort to address the need for investment in diagnostics research and development. It is my hope that today’s forum is only a conversation starter in India, where the national commitment to public health is strong, as is private sector engagement, and the R&D capacity is high.”

The urgent need to accelerate development, evaluation and roll-out of new, high quality and cost-effective diagnostic tests was discussed, particularly in light of India’s infectious disease burden. The forum talked about India’s need for innovative diagnostic solutions for TB and hepatitis C, particularly point-of-care tests that could be used in even the most remote parts of the country.

“In order to reach the greatest number of people, we need innovative and cost-effective diagnostic solutions in India and elsewhere, said Catharina Boehme, Chief Executive Officer, FIND. “Ease-of-use, minimal operating requirements, and affordability are key for point-of-care tests, as is the need to ensure there are no breaks in the diagnostics-to-treatment continuum.”

Sanjay Sarin, Head of FIND India, said, “Today’s forum is the first step towards establishing fruitful partnerships with the pharma and research industries in India and to engage with all stakeholders in the public, private and non-profit sectors who can partner with us in a shared mission to ensure that diagnostics are in place to enable efficient health delivery and improved patient health outcomes.”

About FIND
FIND was established in 2003 as a global non-profit dedicated to accelerating the development, evaluation and use of high-quality, affordable diagnostic tests for poverty-related diseases, including tuberculosis, malaria, HIV/AIDS, Ebola, sleeping sickness, hepatitis C, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease and Buruli ulcer. Over the last decade, FIND has partnered in the delivery of 11 new diagnostic tools, including six for tuberculosis, and created an enabling environment for countless more through the provision of specimen banks, reagent development and better market visibility. FIND also supports better access to new diagnostics through implementation, quality assurance and lab strengthening work. FIND has more than 200 partners globally, including research institutes and laboratories, ministries of health and national disease control programmes, commercial partners, clinical trial sites, and bilateral and multilateral organizations, especially WHO.

About FIND India
FIND India opened its doors in 2007, beginning with a memorandum of understanding with the Central TB Division, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to demonstrate and introduce new, rapid, and quality-assured tests for tuberculosis (TB) at affordable prices for the public health sector. FIND India’s activities initially focused on evaluation and demonstration studies of diagnostic tools that FIND had co-developed with partners, including liquid culture and drug susceptibility testing, rapid speciation, molecular line probe assay, LED-based fluorescence microscopy and Xpert MTB/RIF.

The data from these studies formed part of the body of evidence that ultimately enabled their endorsement by the World Health Organization (WHO). India’s Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) has also used these data to help formulate its guidelines for the detection and management of drug-resistant TB across the country. Nine years later, FIND India’s portfolio of work has expanded to include hepatitis C and antimicrobial resistance, while still maintaining a strong focus on TB.