Commenting on the launch, Professor Anna Schuh, Director of Molecular Diagnostics in the Department of Oncology, said: ‘A precise diagnosis is essential in delivering the right treatment to the right patient and at the right time, however 47% of the global population has little to no access to diagnostics. When it comes to common and potentially curable diseases like some types of anaemia or cancers, a late diagnosis or a misdiagnosis majorly contributes to these diseases’ poor outcomes.’
In sub-Saharan Africa, many diseases that can be easily cured or well controlled with affordable therapies are currently not being diagnosed. For early-stage cancer – adds Schuh - over 90% of patients can be cured in-country with treatment that costs a fraction of those for late-stage cancer.