Geographical Accessibility to Glucose-6-Phosphate Dioxygenase Deficiency Point-of-Care Testing for Antenatal Care in Ghana.
Desmond KuupielKwame M AduVitalis BawontuoDuncan A AdogbobaPaul K DrainMosa MoshabelaTivani Phosa Mashamba-ThompsonPublished in: Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) (2020)
Access to POC testing for G6PD deficiency in Ghana was poor. Given the challenges associated with G6PD deficiency, it would be essential to improve access to G6PD deficiency POC testing to facilitate administration of sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine to pregnant women, full implementation of the malaria control program in Ghana, and treatment of COVID-19 patients with chloroquine in malaria-endemic countries. To enable the World Health Organization include appropriate G6PD POC diagnostic tests in its list of essential in-vitro diagnostics for use in resource-limited settings, we recommend a wider evaluation of available POC diagnostic tests for G6PD deficiency, particularly in malaria-endemic countries.