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Senegalese Lab To Produce $1 Coronavirus Self-Test Kits For Millions of Africans

Updated: May 5, 2020

Unlike Europe and North America, Africa still has the opportunity to contain its coronavirus outbreaks and protect its fragile healthcare systems.


Thanks to an ingenious pocket-sized test kit which will be largely manufactured in Senegal, comprehensive preventative testing could be commonplace in every African country within a few months.


Working with UK-based rapid diagnostics company Mologics, a Dakar-based diagnostics manufacturing facility will soon be producing 8 million tests a year for African governments, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization and the WHO.


The finger-prick tests will use saliva to test for virus antigens and blood to test for the virus antibodies. If a line appears on the test, the patient has tested positive for the coronavirus, similar to how a pregnancy test works.


It will cost $1 and only take ten minutes to administer at home, without requiring a clinician or a nurse.


Senegal has the best rate of recovery for coronavirus patients in Africa and the third best in the world, ahead of the United States and France.


Image: A worker in a secure laboratory researches the coronavirus at Dakar’s Institut Pasteur © Seyllou/AFP/Getty




 
 
 

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