Molecular testing can now be made available at the point of care

Laboratory-based PCR tests have limited reach in most countries. While rapid antigen tests continue to be highly valuable for wide use as they can be deployed in community clinics and health centres, they lack the sensitivity of molecular tests. The COVID-19 pandemic kick-started development of a new generation of affordable, highly portable devices that could plug this gap by enabling molecular and multi-disease testing in primary care – essential for both disease surveillance and patient care.

FIND is actively monitoring the pipeline of molecular point-of-care platforms and maintains an open-access test directory, as well as working with partners to support promising products and accelerate their development.