Global Pathology: A Snapshot of the Problems, the Progress, and the Potential

For equitable global health care, the United Nations has outlined Sustainable Development Goals for health in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) with the goal of reaching universal health care by 2030. Currently, 47% of the global population lacks access to basic diagnostics for many common diseases. The need for diagnostic access has never been more critical owing to the dramatic rise of noncommunicable diseases in LMICs. In a recent analysis, The Lancet Commission on Diagnostics estimated that 1.1 million deaths occurring on an annual basis could be avoided if the diagnostic gap were reduced to 10% for only 6 priority conditions.

To provide a nonexhaustive summary of the progress made to overcome the barriers to adequate access and explore the potential solutions needed to achieve global diagnostic equity.

Several experts in global pathology were interviewed in addition to pathologists working in low-resource settings outside of the United States. Published literature on the topic of global pathology work was analyzed and summarized to provide a cohesive snapshot of the status of global pathology.

Working to increase access to diagnostics in low-resource settings will save millions of lives. The solution to the current inadequate availability of global pathology services will require a global commitment from the entire pathology and laboratory medicine community, government support, and collaboration between the public-private sectors to achieve equitable health care.