Point-of-care (POC) laboratories that deliver rapid diagnoses of ă infectious diseases were invented to balance the centralization of core ă laboratories. POC laboratories operate 24 h a day and 7 days a week to ă provide diagnoses within 2 h, largely based on immunochromatography and ă real-time PCR tests. In our experience, these tests are conveniently ă combined into syndrome-based kits that facilitate sampling, including ă self-sampling and test operations, as POC laboratories can be operated ă by trained operators who are not necessarily biologists. POC ă laboratories are a way of easily providing clinical microbiology testing ă for populations distant from laboratories in developing and developed ă countries and on ships. Modern Internet connections enable support from ă core laboratories. The cost-effectiveness of POC laboratories has been ă established for the rapid diagnosis of tuberculosis and sexually ă transmitted infections in both developed and developing countries.