TAGAYTAY CITY, PHILIPPINES - The Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS) of the United Kingdom and the National Academy of Science and Technology, Philippines (NAST PHL), in partnership with the ASEAN Network for Drugs, Diagnostics, Vaccines and Traditional Medicines Innovation (ASEAN NDI), successfully organized the Joint Policy Workshop on Diagnostics in South East Asia on October 23-24, 2018 in Taal Vista Hotel, Tagaytay City, Philippines.
With the theme “Improving the Development and Deployment of Diagnostics in South East Asia”, this activity was conducted to: 1) explore the current and potential impact of diagnostics in South East Asia; 2) consider the state of the art, in terms of some of the key platforms and technologies under development in the region; 3) identify barriers and challenges for developing and implementing diagnostics in South East Asia and the potential impacts of efficient implementation; and 4) facilitate cross-sector discussion and identify areas, which would benefit from greater collaboration.
The participants were welcomed by the steering committee co-chaired by Prof. Sanjeev Krishna, FMedSci, professor of molecular parasitology and medicine at the St. George’s University in London, United Kingdom and Acd. Jaime C. Montoya, professor at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine and Executive Director of the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD). Acd. Montoya delivered the welcome remarks on behalf of the NAST President, Acd. Rhodora V. Azanza.
The first day of the event discussed priorities in diagnostics in South East Asia. The series of sessions was opened by Dr. Jonathan O’Halloran, co-founder and chief scientific officer of the QuantuMDx Group Limited, as he presented the situation of diagnostics globally and mentioned some appropriate molecular diagnostics (MDx) tools for point-of-care (POC). He also emphasized the barriers preventing the development of appropriate MDx POC such as connectivity, facilities, rural locations, distribution, regulatory, and evaluation.