Expand microbiology and antibiotic susceptibility-testing networks
#00380
Build affordable laboratory networks that identify bacterial pathogens and susceptibility patterns quickly enough to guide individual treatment and local resistance policies.
Parent issue
#00368 Patients lack timely diagnosis and access to effective antibiotics
Sustainable Development Goals
Location
Description
Health systems should expand specimen collection, transport, culture, pathogen identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing through quality-assured laboratory networks. Results should reach clinicians quickly, feed local antibiograms and surveillance systems, and support diagnostic stewardship so tests are ordered and interpreted appropriately.
Networks require trained staff, equipment maintenance, reagents, external quality assessment, interoperable data and referral pathways. Rapid methods can complement conventional culture but should not be deployed without evidence that they are accurate and actionable in the intended population.
Sub-issues
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