Discussion

The primarily challenge to the adoption of a new diagnostic approach is the natural human reluctance to accept and embrace change. This reluctance to change is heightened due to the complex nature of the issue and the traditional mindset of influencers that support industry stakeholders. These stakeholders are changing and increasingly wanting robust and timely parasite diagnostic information which traditional diagnostic services struggle to provide. A new diagnostic approach may have a strong and compelling list of advantages over traditional methods, yet adoption and commercial success is often slow and constrained. To overcome this reluctance to change, the parasitology community needs an openness and awareness of their changing world, the value proposition for a new approach must be compelling, early adoption needs to be well supported to build user confidence. The collaborative use of a new approach builds positive user experiences and if shared effectively, encourages more new users. The need for more robust, timely, expertise supported parasite diagnostic information has never been more relevant, yet the challenge of slow adoption of these new technologies threatens to limit our ability to more effectively manage and control parasitism in 2018 and beyond.