The 2nd Asia Pacific Conference on Point of Care Testing for Infectious Diseases (POC 2025)

The 2nd Asia Pacific Conference on Point of Care Testing for Infectious Diseases (POC 2025) is organized by Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM) and will be held from Jun 19 - 21, 2025 at Samyan Mitrtown Hall, Pathum Wan, Bangkok, Thailand.

Description:
This partnership builds on the success of their previous endeavours to enhance access to rapid diagnostic tools, particularly for infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, cervical cancer, sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, malaria, antimicrobial resistance, and other key infections.

The conference will bring together leading experts, healthcare professionals, and researchers from across the Asia-Pacific region. The conference aims to showcase innovations in point-of-care testing, discuss strategies for implementation, and address challenges related to equitable access and healthcare integration. This collaboration fosters a comprehensive approach to tackling infectious diseases, improving diagnostic capabilities, and enhancing patient care in diverse settings across the region.

The conference will cover:

• Innovative point-of-care testing strategies to enhance early diagnosis, linkage to care, and treatment (including rapid tests, molecular tests, and self-testing)
• Enhanced integration of point-of-care testing for multiple infectious diseases (including triple-elimination of HIV, hepatitis B virus, and syphilis).
• Enhanced implementation of point-of-care testing (including understanding what works, where, and why)
• Reducing antibiotic overuse and improving antimicrobial resistance stewardship
• Political advocacy, policy change, and supportive health systems
• Strategies for monitoring and evaluating the impact of point-of-care testing on health outcomes
• Multidisciplinary research to optimize development, implementation, and impact of point-of-care tests on health outcomes
• Development of technologies that are innovative and affordable
• Cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit of scaling-up point-of-care testing, including ensuring adequate resourcing and access to affordable services

The conference will consider the implementation of point-of-care testing in diverse settings, including but not limited to the community, community-led services, Indigenous-led services, primary care clinics, antenatal care clinics, women’s health clinics, HIV and sexual health clinics, drug treatment clinics, needle/syringe programs, mental health clinics, refugee/migrant health services, mobile health clinics, prisons and tertiary hospital-based care.

This partnership builds on the success of their previous endeavours to enhance access to rapid diagnostic tools, particularly for infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, cervical cancer, sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, malaria, antimicrobial resistance, and other key infections.The conference will bring together leading experts, including from community, healthcare professionals, and researchers from across the Asia-Pacific region. 

The conference aims to showcase innovations in point-of-care testing, discuss strategies for implementation, and address challenges related to equitable access and healthcare integration. This collaboration fosters a comprehensive approach to tackling infectious diseases, improving diagnostic capabilities, and enhancing patient care in diverse settings across the region.