The World Health Organization (WHO) publishes its first-ever list of essential diagnostic tests earlier this year which should be present in primary health centre of every block in every country so that patient of the rural area also gets a good standard of health care. The list includes tests recommended by the WHO for use in ‘primary health care’ and ‘health care facilities with clinical laboratories’. The word ‘essential’ means that these tests should be available at all times in primary health care or higher health care facilities and they should be affordable with assured quality and accuracy.
At the primary healthcare level, the list starts with basic hematological investigations such as hemoglobin, TLC, DLC, and recommends using a hemoglobinometer/dipstick, hematology analyser or hemocytometer. Most hematological tests can be indirectly estimated by slide method also. To measure…
