WHO approves INSTI HIV self-test for African market
The INSTI HIV self-test (INSTI) manufactured by Canadian company bioLytical Laboratories will soon be available for the African market after getting the nod from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
This comes after the WHO released new guidelines on HIV self-testing to improve access to and uptake of HIV diagnosis.
The INSTI HIV self-test, which yields a greater than 99% accuracy, is the world's fastest HIV test. With just one drop of blood, the assay can detect HIV antibodies two weeks sooner than any other HIV self-testing kit.
bioLytical COO and CFO Livleen Veslemes said the company worked through each part of its supply chain to reduce shipping, procurement, production and distribution costs to introduce this alternative format in response to the immense need for affordable self-testing in Africa.
“The HIV testing landscape is evolving and INSTI is well-suited to be a leader in the self-testing segment owing to its simplicity and ability to provide instant, accurate results two-weeks sooner than all other brands,” she said.
Veslemes said it was part of the company's mission to provide innovative solutions for diagnosis of infectious diseases.
WHO department of HIV director Dr Gottfried Hirnschall added the self-testing could empower people to find out their own HIV status and to notify their partners and also encourage them to get tested.
“Self-testing will be particularly relevant for those people who may find it difficult to access testing in clinical settings and who might prefer self-testing as their method of choice," he said.
Self-testing nearly doubled the frequency of HIV testing among men who had sex with men, and recent studies in Kenya found that male partners of pregnant women had twice the uptake of HIV testing when offered self-testing compared with standard testing.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation