Maggie Throup MP delivered a fantastic speech at the 2023 IBMS Congress’ opening plenary session, providing a comprehensive examination of the UK diagnostics landscape, labelling BIVDA the ‘standard bearer’ of the sector.
Moreover, Maggie heralded BIVDA as the ‘collaborative network that the sector needs’, by working in unison with industry, academia and other partners to achieve transformative results for the IVD industry and patients.
Community Diagnostic Centres, while welcome, are missing a trick in Maggie’s view. Like vaccine centres, which were so effective during the pandemic, CDCs need to be located in the heart of communities; currently too many operate within hospitals. CDCs also need to utilise IVDs rather than focusing overwhelming on imaging.
Maggie stressed that adopting widespread diagnostic testing not only saves the NHS money long term, but improves patient experiences through identifying diseases at more treatable stages. For instance, more opt-out testing is needed to achieve the Government’s goal of ending new HIV transmissions by 2030. Expanding testing is vastly cheaper than the current cost of treating HIV over a lifetime.
Maggie concluded her speech with a further call for collaboration within our industry, emphasising that by working together the UK can remain at the forefront of healthcare diagnostics.
