Field Trials Of Rapid, Inexpensive And Portable HIV Test Show Success, Researchers Report

“The first field trial for a ‘lab on a chip’ accurately detected both HIV and syphilis among a Rwandan population, researchers reported Sunday” in an online report published by Nature Medicine, the Washington Post reports (Torres, 7/31).

With near 100 percent accuracy, the credit-card-sized device, called an “mChip,” “could help knock down three barriers to effective delivery of health care into the world’s poorest regions: difficult access, high costs and long delays for results,” according to SAPA/Agence France-Presse/Times Live (7/31). “Funding is crucial for further development of the lab on a chip. A lack of interest from companies is likely keeping the test from reaching the ground within two or three years, [developer Samual] Sia estimated, despite excitement from the global health community,” the Washington Post writes (7/31).

The KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report summarized news and information on global health policy from hundreds of sources, from May 2009 through December 2020. All summaries are archived and available via search.

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