AdvaMed, GMTA Welcome World Health Assembly Resolution on the Importance of Diagnostic Products for Global Public Health
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, AdvaMed, the Medtech Association, joined members of the Global Medical Technology Alliance (GMTA) to welcome the recently released World Health Assembly (WHA) resolution on Strengthening Diagnostic Capacity. The resolution highlights the fact that resilient health systems rely on diagnostics at every level of health infrastructure and calls on Member States to expand skilled workforce training, advance regulatory harmonization, invest in research and development and manufacturing, and prioritize diagnostic services in their national strategies.
The resolution also acknowledges the role of the World Health Organization (WHO) in public health and calls on the organization to ensure a flexible and responsive regulatory and guidance environment that facilitates patient access to diagnostic innovations.
Thierry Bernard, QIAGEN CEO and AdvaMedDx Board Chair, said, “We applaud the WHA’s recognition of the significance of diagnostics in global health. Exemplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, diagnostics has proven its relevance in the healthcare value chain and have been critical in managing disease outbreaks, underlining their importance in saving lives.”
In a statement following the release of the resolution, GMTA, which is co-chaired by AdvaMed and MedTech Europe, said, “Diagnostics are included in the estimated two million different kinds of medical devices that are on the world market today. Medical devices – and diagnostics specifically – play an essential role in improving, extending and saving lives every day, in every country in a wide range of circumstances: chest images with computed tomography help diagnose coronary artery disease and detect cancers; ultrasound enables the detection of high-risk pregnancies; and diagnostic tests that can detect public health threats such as the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, malaria, and tuberculosis.
“Most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted diagnostics as an essential public health tool, since diagnostics provide crucial data that guides treatment decisions: from diagnosing patients, to determining the scope, spread, and scale of infectious disease outbreaks. Together with other measures – such as personal protective equipment, ventilators, and the use of vaccines – they protect and help treat our loved ones, as well as the broader community.
“We thank the WHO for its leadership and look forward to collaborating with all stakeholders to accomplish the many goals and priorities set forth in this Resolution. We also look forward to continuing our critical work with the WHO on a broader range of essential medical technologies.”
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