Dear HIFA colleagues,
On 2 November I sent the following message to HIFA:
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Dear Massimo and all,
Thank you for your message. https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/lancet-commission-diagnostics-transform...
You identified three tests that "fetch profit$ to private settings, they are grossly unreliable. A way to derobe 'sick' people of their meagre income", namely:
1) Widal test for typhoid
2) rapid test for helicobacter pylori
3) rapid test for tuberculosis
I would like to invite others to comment.
Are these tests useful? Should they be abandoned or used more selectively?
To what extent are these tests conducted unnecessarily and at what cost to the health system and to individual patients?
Best wishes, Neil
Neil Pakenham-Walsh, HIFA Coordinator, neil@hifa.org www.hifa.org
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Inappropriate use of diagnostic tests is a massive problem, wastes resources in the health system, and impoverishes patients. I would like to invite comment from HIFA members on the above three tests, and other inappropriate use of tests.
Best wishes, Neil
Neil Pakenham-Walsh, HIFA Coordinator, neil@hifa.org www.hifa.org
