SIG Point of Care Testing annual report

As of 24 April 2018, there are 113 members in the Special Interest Group (SIG) on Global Point-of- Care Testing (POCT), comprising 11 Executive Members and 102 General Members; these members represent 44 different countries and all seven WONCA regions.

In July 2017, the SIG published a summary of the workshop titled ‘Point-of-Care Testing for Today’s Family Doctor: Innovations and Application’ presented by Professor Mark Shephard, Lara Motta, Tessa McCormack and Brooke Spaeth on behalf of the WONCA Special Interest Group on Global Point-of- Care Testing for WONCA News

Across November 2017 to March 2018, members of the SIG collaborated to prepare and lodge two abstracts for the upcoming 22nd WONCA World Conference in Seoul, Korea in October 2018. The first being for a 90-minute workshop titled ‘Point-of-Care Testing in Daily Practice: a worldwide hit?’ to be presented by Dr Rogier Hopstaken, a GP and member of the SIG from the Netherlands. And the second, a poster presentation titled ‘World Health Organization Multi-Country Evaluation of Molecular-Based Point-of-Care Testing for Chlamydia, Gonorrhoea and Trichomonas’, co-authored by SIG members Professor Mark Shephard, Lara Motta and Dr Igor Toskin (WHO Observer).

The SIG is preparing a paper on the results of our online survey on the use of POCT by WONCA members for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

In May 2018, an email will be delivered to the members of the SIG to notify them that the three-year period that Professor Mark Shephard and Lara Motta can act as Secretariat for the SIG is coming to an end, and requesting members to nominate to take over the positions of Chair and Secretary.

Professor Mark Shephard & Lara Motta
Chair & Secretary Special Interest Group on Global Point-of-Care Testing