Indian Diagnostic Industry Takes About A Decade To Fully Implement Global Trends

Shedding light on the current trends in the diagnostic industry, Zoya Brar, MD and Founder, Core Diagnostics, ellucidates about the measures to be taken to catch up with the global scenario, in a chat with Mansha Gagneja

- Mansha Gagneja

Could you brief us about the trends in the diagnostic industry, both in India and globally?

There are four dominant trends in the diagnostics industry:

- Making the tests more specific and reliable

- Making the tests more actionable

- Making the tests more efficient and convenient

- Making the tests more affordable

The diagnostic industry is achieving these goals by increasingly turning towards processes and technology that improve accuracy of disease detection, make tests more convenient, and deliver results in real time. Examples of these developments include a focus on liquid biopsies that use blood or patient’s saliva to detect presence of cancer, faster pathogen detecting cultures for tuberculosis, tests that determine drug resistance in microbes, etc. There is an increased attention towards decentralising diagnostics in a manner that puts the patient at the centre of the process. This is illustrated through the many technologies that are focussed on healthcare at home and point of care testing. Digital devices to test sugar, blood pressure and use of IT to deliver the reports directly to doctors are examples that are improving patient convenience. Other significant trends are the move towards preventive diagnostics and use of genetic and genome testing. Finally, the future of diagnostics also includes population trends monitoring that will allow government and healthcare bodies to plan for the future and also control the disease before it spreads.

What measures have been taken nationwide towards keeping pace with these global trends?