Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) and the Africa CDC have teamed up to build capacity in readiness for the introduction of high-quality antigen rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for Covid-19.

RDTs, according to medical experts, are suitable for preliminary or emergency medical screening and for use in medical facilities with limited resources.

Development Diaries understands Covid-19 has dramatically widened diagnostic gaps, precipitating major global challenges including supply chain wars and substantial-quality issues.

‘Fast, smooth and efficient rollout of affordable, accurate antigen RDTs will take the Covid-19 response to the next level’, FIND CEO Dr Catharina Boehme said.

‘With over 60 partners across Africa, we are committed to supporting Africa CDC to build technical capacity so that countries are ready to implement with no delay.

‘Testing is not just our first line of defence against this pandemic, it is also the bedrock on which strong health systems are built. We congratulate Africa CDC for providing strong and effective leadership in testing’.

As for Director of Africa CDC, Dr John Nkengasong, he said that testing was the cornerstone of response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

‘We need to scale up testing and we need to improve the turnaround time for testing so that we can quickly identify, isolate, and treat positive cases. This is where the RDTs play a very important role’, he said.

Simple, accurate, and affordable RDTs that can be performed anywhere to reliably detect disease were identified as a high priority early in the pandemic.

These tests are urgently needed to expand access to testing for test-trace-isolate strategies and test-and-treat implementation in a healthcare facility and community settings, and especially in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs).

Source: Africa CDC

Photo source: Africa CDC