Improving diagnostic techniques to prevent disease

A study in Australia concluded that about 13 percent of medical errors occurred as a result of medical misdiagnosis. Medical misdiagnosis prevents patients being treated correctly, which may lead to the death of a patient.

This strategy features in the framework of Agenda 21 as formulated at UNCED (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), now coordinated by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development and implemented through national and local authorities.

Agenda 21 recommends developing improved diagnostic techniques and vaccines for the prevention and spread of disease and for rapid assessment of toxins or infectious organisms in products for human use or livestock feed.