These presentation slides are from the Women-Centered Diagnostics satellite session of the 2019 International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA 2019) that was jointly organized by the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM), the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), UNICEF and Unitaid.

Much has been done to improve the health status of women living with HIV and reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV, but more needs to be done in other disease areas, such as hepatitis B and C (HBV and HCV), as well as human papilloma virus (HPV) to reduce the risks that women and girls face, as well as the potential risk that their future children may be exposed to. To increase access to testing for multiple diseases in a person-centred way and improve program efficiencies, several countries have started to optimize their diagnostic networks across laboratory-based and point-of-care (POC) solutions to be utilized for several diseases and assays on the same platform. There is compelling evidence of the effectiveness and impact of POC technologies to increase access to diagnostic services, and enable treatment initiation for HIV, tuberculosis (TB), HCV and HPV. Further, interest in POC HIV viral load testing may provide significant benefits to priority populations such as children, adolescents, pregnant and breastfeeding women, as well as people with a suspected treatment failure. The technological and programmatic solutions today allow for designing truly women-centered approaches to diagnostics. The Women-Centered Diagnostics satellite session of the 2019 International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA 2019) focused on building a vision for achieving universal access to women-centered diagnostics services, thus responding to the global calls for action and addressing inequalities. Below, you can download the presentations from this satellite session.