ABSTRACT
WorldIn many developing countries, laboratory services are often limited to major urban centers. The 2004 World Development Report cites
the lack of accessibility as one of the major reasons why services fail. Table 5.2 shows the distances the poorest fifth of the population in selected countries have to travel to access the nearest health service [5]. Table 5.2 Distance to nearest medical facility (selected from The 2004
specific disease trends and effectiveness of new interventions.Even when laboratory services are available, there are often problems with the quality of the services due to a lack of resources,
supply logistics, and trained personnel [8]. These problems lead to physicians not trusting laboratory results, which, in turn, leads to further neglect of laboratory services. 5.4 Lack of International and National
safety and effectiveness of drugs used in a country. Most countries have a process for reviewing the evidence from drug trials to support the introduction of new drugs, and this has done much to improve the quality of drugs used in developing countries. Unfortunately, apart from tests used for blood banking, regulatory standards are often lacking for diagnostic tests, especially those targeting diseases that are uncommon in industrialized countries [9]. As a result, diagnostic tests are often sold in most of the developing world without any formal evaluation of their performance and effectiveness.
