As a result of the fourth meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on In Vitro Diagnostics in 2022, a decision was made to recommend a point-of-care test (i.e., the EldonCard), developed and marketed by Eldon Biologicals, to determine an individual’s ABO blood type and Rh(D) status in the context of maternal health care and hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn. A pdf file of the presentation and the Advisory Group’s deliberations can be found here.
By their decision to include this in vitro diagnostic on their 2023 Essential Diagnostics List, the WHO has elevated the importance of addressing Rhesus disease by providing health care professionals with a simple-to-use point-of-care testing approach to identify women at risk.