WHO aims to provide testing to low and middle class countries.
Geneva, Switzerland:
Some 120 million rapid tests for Covid-19 will be made available to the poorest countries at $ 5 each, the World Health Organization said on Monday – if it can find the money.
WHO said the $ 600 million program would allow low- and middle-income countries to close the dramatic gap in testing for the novel coronavirus, which has now killed more than a million people since its first registered in China in December.
The rapid tests, which will be distributed to 133 countries over the next six months, are not as reliable as conventional nasal swab PCR tests, but are much faster, cheaper and easier to perform.
“We have an agreement, we have seed funding and now we need the full amount of funds to purchase these tests,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual press conference .
Last week, WHO released the first emergency use list for a quality antigen-based rapid diagnostic test (RDT), and more are expected to follow.
“A substantial proportion of these rapid tests – 120 million – will be made available to low- and middle-income countries,” Tedros said.
“These tests provide reliable results in about 15 to 30 minutes, rather than hours or days, at a lower price, with less sophisticated equipment.
“This will allow for the expansion of testing, especially in hard-to-reach areas that do not have laboratory facilities or enough trained health workers to perform PCR testing.”
No lab required
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which co-organizes WHO-led joint global research for Covid-19 diagnoses, is investing $ 50 million from its Covid-19 response pot.
Global Fund Executive Director Peter Sands said RDTs were not a silver bullet but were an extremely valuable addition to PCR testing.
“While they’re a little less precise, they’re a lot faster, cheaper, and don’t require a lab,” Sands said.
“This will allow low- and middle-income countries to start closing the dramatic testing gap.”
Sands, said that currently high-income countries perform 292 tests per day per 100,000 population; upper middle income countries 77; lower middle income countries, 61; and low-income countries, 14.
He said if the poorest countries tested at the same rate as the richest, 120 million tests would not last two weeks.
The tests could be used when PCR tests are not available; promptly test contacts when a PCR test has confirmed a case; and in places where community transmission is widespread.
Sands said the first orders were going this week.
The tests are produced by two companies: the American multinational Abbott Laboratories and the South Korean company SD BioSensor.
The 120 million tests reflect 20 percent of companies’ manufacturing capacity. The remaining 80% remains available for supply.
As of 4:00 p.m. GMT Monday, the respiratory disease had claimed 1,002,432 out of 33,178,275 recorded infections, according to an AFP tally gathered from official sources.
“The current figures are probably an underestimate of the true toll,” WHO emergency director Michael Ryan said.
He said on Friday that another million deaths were “highly likely” before a vaccine arrived, unless countries and individuals take collective action to combat the spread of the virus.
