Orders Coming Out of Kenya? From AllAfrica regarding HIV tests available to consumers from Calypte and Orasure and the tests available to be on the market there on December 1, 2007:
Kenya: Want to Take an Aids Check? Self Testing Kit On the Way
Business Daily (Nairobi)
13 August 2007
Posted to the web 13 August 2007
Muriuki Albert
The National Aids Control Council (NACC) has unveiled an ambitious plan to give Kenyans personal control over HIV testing.
Yesterday, the agency announced that it has obtained self testing kits for sale to the public, signalling that the fight against the pandemic is moving to the next level of status awareness. Prof Alloys Orago, the director of NACC, said use of the kits involves swabbing in the mouth instead of piercing the body for blood samples, with results coming out in 20 minutes.
Aids testing kits. The kits will retail at between shs195 and shs325 per unit
He said the agency had involved 10,000 people in the pilot phase of the project and all that is remaining is the coming into effect of the HIV/Aids law that Parliament recently passed and is awaiting gazettement.
Prof Orago said the kits are expected in the market by December 1, to coincide with the World Aids Day. Ministry of Health officials said the government had obtained two versions of the self-testing kits, including OraQuick Advance HIV Antibody Test from the USA and Calypte Aware Rapid Test kit manufactured by Calypte Biomedical Corporation, also of the US. They are currently retailing at approximately $5 (Sh325) and $3 (Sh195) per unit, according to Prof Orago.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the USA approved OraQuick Advance HIV Antibody Test for use with oral fluid and for use on plasma specimens in March 2004. The kit uses oral fluids and involves swabbing the device around the outer gums, which is then inserted into a vial containing a developer solution.
Prof Orago, however, cautioned that the kits will only be available to those who have been counselled and prepared for the results. Clinical studies show that the OraQuick fluid test correctly identified 99.3 per cent of people who were infected with HIV and 99.8 per cent of people who were not infected with HIV. The oral kits have been popular with health workers as it lowers the risk of exposure to infection. They have, however, been found to have slightly lower sensitivity and specificity than tests that use blood.
Relevant Links
East Africa
HIV-Aids and STDs
Health and Medicine
Kenya
Prof Orago made the announcement when he released the results of a survey showing that the country has made significant progress in the fight against HIV and Aids. The survey, which was conducted late last year, shows that new infections declined to 55,000 per year and that mortality from aids related complications declined to 85,000 per year or 233 per day down from 140,000 in 2005.
"The progress is the result of increased usage of ART, which has averted about 57,000 deaths since 2001 and 35,000 between 2003 and 2006," said Prof Orago.
Since 1990, Kenya has been implementing an HIV Sentinel Surveillance System implemented by the National AIDS and STD Control Programme (NASCOP) in the Ministry of Health.
AI
