Where we are with point‐of‐care testing

Viral hepatitis claims one million lives each year. Scaling up treatment for hepatitis B and C in resource‐limited settings is not possible without access to reliable diagnostic tools. This article gives an overview of current technologies and the pipeline for easy‐to‐use assays for serological and virological analyses, which can be performed at the site of patient care (‘point‐of‐care assays’). Furthermore, the utility of dried blood spots for hepatitis B and C viral load testing is discussed. In addition to simple and reliable diagnostics, there is a need for a sustainable funding scheme and generic production of antiviral drugs to reduce the burden of viral hepatitis worldwide.