5th Point of Care Africa Testing (POCT) International Colloquium
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The 5th Point of Care Africa Testing (POCT) International Colloquium will be held on 21st and 22nd April, 2026, in Cape Town, South Africa at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) Hotel School, Granger Bay, Cape Town.
The theme of the colloquium is “Leveraging Point of Care Testing for Pandemic Preparedness and Disaster Management”
Day 1 will consist of academic sessions which will focus on how POCT is transforming healthcare and being utilised globally in pandemics and disaster management. A training workshop on POCT operations specifically targeted at general practitioners, pharmacists, pathologists, community health nurses, phlebotomists and primary health care workers will form part of the sessions on Day 2.
According to Fortune Business Insights, the market for point-of-care (POC) diagnostics is projected to surpass $51billion by 2032 and rapid testing is changing the paradigm for clinical care across many disease areas. Technologies and platforms are being optimised for speed and reliability in a variety of settings, including bedside, resource-limited and pharmacy testing.
This colloquium will provide an overview of the POCT landscape in Africa, from novel technologies to regulatory approval. POCT continues to expand in Africa at a rapid rate and new advances in POCT technology are making it faster, cheaper and more accurate. Indeed, with enhanced connectivity, POCT will play a major role in disease screening, monitoring and tracing of patients during pandemics. This was exemplified during the recent COVID 19 pandemic.
International speakers will highlight several areas of impact and provide comprehensive coverage of POC Detection, POC Diagnostics and POC-based Treatment Options in the fields of infectious diseases, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and chronic kidney disease especially in relation to pandemics that seem to be emerging at a rapid rate probably due to climatic change. ? Disaster management
Abstract (oral) submissions are invited to give ample opportunity to researchers present their research findings and discuss their work with their peers.
Industry will have the opportunity to exhibit their POC instruments as well as participate as speakers (sponsors only) in the main colloquium programme as well as participate in the panel discussion on the future of POC diagnostics and its impact on Pandemic Preparedness and Disaster Management (sponsors only).
A panel discussion on the emerging role of POCT in pandemic preparedness and disaster management as well as its impact on delivering universal health care will take place on Day 2.
Launch of book: “Revolutionising African Healthcare: The potential for Point of Care Testing Solutions POCT” by A Nasef and RT Erasmus
In addition to a national faculty, we will have an international faculty consisting of many international speakers from Europe, UK, USA, India, and Africa.
For more information: https://consultus.eventsair.com/5th-poct-africa-conference.
SALDA Members have been granted a discounted registration fee, email comms@salda.org.za to access the discounted rates.