India’s Central Government Tasks 15 Viral Research and Clinical Laboratories to Perform Monkeypox Surveillance Testing

South Asian nation aims to do what US, UK, and Europe failed to do during start of COVID-19 pandemic and slow spread of disease while case counts are low With monkeypox quickly spreading around the world, India may be taking a lesson from western nations’ delayed response to COVID-19—including a sometimes slow availability of clinical lab testing for monkeypox—and preemptively increasing its national surveillance of the deadly social disease. On Aug. 29, the Hindustan Times reported that in an...

Medical Laboratories Respond to Monkeypox Outbreak Using CDC-Developed Diagnostic Test

The federal agency shipped tests to five commercial clinical laboratory companies, augmenting efforts by public health labs Medical laboratories in the US are ramping up their efforts to respond to an outbreak of monkeypox that has been spreading around the globe. Microbiologists and clinical laboratory scientists will be interested to learn that this infectious agent—which is new to the US—may be establishing itself in the wild rodent population in this country. If proved to be true, it means...

Ireland’s ‘CervicalCheck’ Cancer Screening Program Remains Plagued by Controversy Despite Reform Efforts

Two US clinical laboratories providing testing for the problem-laden program have been targets of lawsuits from women who allege their smear test results were misread In Ireland, the nation’s health service continues to deal with the consequences from problems with its “CervicalCheck” service that is designed to provide timely screening for the early detection of cervical cancer. It became a national scandal when the news media learned that a number of women had received diagnoses of terminal...

Australia Moves Closer to Nationwide Electronic Health Record as Nation’s Leading Pathology Laboratories Join Initiative

Doctors’ advocacy organization praises potential of ‘My Health Record’ but voices concerns about functionality, interoperability, and added burden placed on providers Australia’s goal of implementing a nationwide electronic health record (EHR) system received a major boost when the country’s largest pathology laboratories signed agreements with the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) to join the project. But the My Health Record system has yet to fully win over providers as the Australian...

Sonic Healthcare Limited Selected to Provide $3-Billion in Medical Lab Services to Edmonton and Parts of Central and Northern Alberta

Other clinical laboratory organizations responding to the RFP were Laboratory Corporation of America, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, and Mayo Clinic Last Friday, Alberta Health Services (AHS) in Edmonton, Alberta, announced that Sonic Healthcare Limited (SHL.AX), of Sydney, Australia, has been selected as the medical laboratory testing provider to serve Edmonton and parts of central and northern Alberta. This agreement is worth $3 billion Canadian over 15 years and is believed to be the...
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