A market for diagnostic devices for extreme point-of-care testing: Are we ASSURED of an ethical outcome?

Abstract

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is leading a global effort to deliver improved diagnostic testing to people living in low-resource settings. A reliance on the healthcare technologies marketplace and industry, shapes many aspects of the WHO project, and in this situation normative guidance comes by way of the ASSURED criteria — Affordable, Sensitive, Specific, User-friendly, Rapid and robust, Equipment-free, and Delivered. While generally improving access to diagnostics, I argue that the ASSURED approach to distributive justice — efficiency — and assessment of worth — productivity — may constrain efforts to deliver timely and accurate diagnosis in the developing world equitably by holding..