Studies have shown a lack of pathologists in low- and middle-income countries

pathology is the cornerstone of modern medicine, and pathologists are very important to the medical system. However, a new study published in
, a leading British medical journal, suggests that undiagnosed "hypothetical therapy" may be prevalent in many low- and middle-income countries due to factors such as a severe lack of pathologists.
study points out that pathological analysis is essential for the detection, treatment and monitoring of infectious diseases, while for diseases such as cancer, pathological grouping and correct judgment of tumor stages can guide treatment and predict disease evolution. Thus, failure to diagnose or treat patients correctly not only affects patient rehabilitation, but also, more broadly, wastes the scarce medical resources of low- and middle-income countries themselves.kenneth Fleming, a pathologist at the University of Oxford in the UK and lead author of the
study, said: "In Europe or the US, we take it for granted that symptoms of liver disease need to be diagnosed on the basis of a blood test before being properly treated. Similarly, the detection of breast cancer can not be separated from the sliping examination.
However, based on available evidence and a supplementary survey of more than 250 pathologists in low- and middle-income countries, the researchers estimate that sub-Saharan Africa has only one pathologist per million patients, about one in 50 in high-income countries.
addition, the training and education of pathologists is not encouraging. Only 2% of interns in the U.S. received pathology at graduate level in 2015, but the situation is more acute in low- and middle-income countries. The study estimates that, at current levels of education and training, it will take more than 400 years for sub-Saharan Africa to reach the proportion of pathologists in the same population as the United States or the United Kingdom.
call for immediate interventions in low- and middle-income countries to address the current shortage of pathologists and to ensure the sustainability of these measures to prevent the gap from widening further. All countries should provide at least a basic level of pathology testing services and allocate at least 4 per cent of their medical budget to pathology and laboratory medicines when developing relevant medical plans. (Source: Xinhua News Agency)