As the world is struggling to fight the spread of COVID-19, healthcare infrastructure and testing capacity have become prominent issues on almost every country’s agenda.
TriageTB project partner FIND (The Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics) has teamed up with the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) to provide an independent evaluation of the diagnostics tests available and guidance on implementing safe and reliable testing.
Together, they have developed a massive open online course (MOOC) on COVID-19 diagnostics and testing. It provides the latest recommendations on COVID-19 testing, and up-to-date information on the performance of tests and how best to deploy them.
Launched on 20 April on the FutureLearn platform, the course will run for 3 weeks. Topics covered include:
• The current state of the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of diagnostics in the response
• The different types of diagnostic tests and their use in the COVID-19 outbreak
• The current recommendations on use of COVID-19 diagnostics and testing strategies
• How countries are establishing and scaling up COVID-19 testing, and key considerations for safety, quality and impact of diagnostic services
Course materials are presented in a range of different formats, including video, Power Point presentations, articles, case studies, and reference materials for further reading. Participants can take part and complete the course at their own pace
The course is offered free of charge and accessible here.
TriageTB project members have been encouraged to spread this information among their groups and make wide use of this capacity building opportunity.
(Photo by CDC on Unsplash)
A summary of what we have learnt from the mentoring programme in TriageTB and some recommendations for establishing successful mentoring programmes
