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Fio Vialard, an M.Sc. student in epidemiology at 苹果淫院 and trainee at the Research Institute of the 苹果淫院 Health Centre (RI-MUHC), recently published a systematic review in听听with promising application for chlamydia and gonorrhea screening in diagnostics. Funded by听, a global health non-profit based in Geneva, Switzerland, that fosters partnerships providing affordable diagnostic tests for diseases in low- and middle-income countries, the review has been well received by many health agencies and provides data for their policies.
Vialard is supervised by , MD, PhD, a physician scientist and member of the 听at the RI-MUHC, where she conducts research at the Centre for Outcomes Research and Evaluation. The research team has been invited by key agencies to deliver a webinar to educate professionals about this promising self-sampling approach in the fall.
鈥淭hese two common bacterial sexually transmitted infections 鈥� chlamydia and gonorrhea 鈥� still cause over 200 million infections every year,鈥� says Vialard. 鈥淥ur review offers evidence of strengths and limitations of self-sampling strategies in diverse populations and income settings. This will help policymakers implement screening strategies that can be customized to key populations and hopefully achieve global elimination in the near future.鈥�
鈥淭hanks to the global advances in self-testing for HIV and COVID-19, the world has become more accepting of self-testing strategies,鈥� adds Dr. Pant Pai. 鈥淪elf-sampling for common infections that communities desire adds to the repertoire of patient-preferred, patient-empowered, convenient time-saving options that stand to directly benefit patients and communities. This review offers strong evidence to support their global scale-up.鈥�
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Photo: M.Sc. student Fio Vialard is a trainee at the Research Institute of the 苹果淫院 Health Centre, conducting epidemiological research at the Centre for Outcomes Research and Evaluation