Amadou Cell, director of the Pasteur Institute and Diatropics, told CNN that the biomedical center hopes the kit will cost as little as 1 to buy.
“This is a very simple technique, like a pregnancy test, that you can use everywhere at the community level, which is important for Africa,” he said.
According to Mollogic, this quick test kit does not require electricity or laboratory analysis.
Instead, it has a simple test strip housed in a plastic unit and uses a small blood sample collected from a finger stick, similar to the tools used to test insulin. Blood tests are done for coronavirus related antibodies, and the result is shown on the test strip.
Cell said the prototype of the kit was tested in June after raising funds from donors from the UK’s for-profit Wellcome Trust and donors. Once the regulatory investigation is complete, it is planned to begin production and distribution of the kit.
The Covid-19 rapid test kit will be the first on the continent to be made available by governments and health organizations such as the Africa Centers and Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Savvy said.
“Ideally, we’re working on how to make (the kit) available to the general public. But for now, the focus is on public health and then we’ll go into self-testing.”
Cell said the target is to deliver 10 to 15 million kits by February 2021.
Tests challenges
World Health Organization epidemiologist Dr. Anderson Latte told CNN that one of the challenges in removing the virus from the continent is the lack of kits.
According to the WHO, all 47 countries in its WHO African region can now make the diagnosis. But in many places, testing still lags behind.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is importing its PCR test kit from China but is unable to get the required amount.
“Countries need to work together in a coordinated manner and make sure the test kit is available,” Latte said. “It’s really complicated.”
He added that the test kit developed by Dakar’s Pasteur Institute is a welcome addition.
Human capital
This is not the first time that the Pasteur Institute has been at the forefront of providing public health solutions during an epidemic.
Cell, who is also the director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Arbovirus and Viral Hemorrhagic Fever in Senegal, believes the presence of a quick Covid-19 test kit will help boost the economy.
“If you’re facing a situation where people can’t work because they’re sick … that’s very disruptive to the economy. And in this regard, investing in an initiative (test kit) to promote accessibility is what keeps the economy going. There’s a way to keep up, ”he said.
CNN’s Adeline Chen contributed to this report.
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