Geneva-based nonprofit FIND has unveiled a new $7 million (€6.31 billion) support package for poorer countries that could stand to increase their ease of access to Covid-19 testing kits.
Covid-19 self-testing. Credit: Komsan Loonprom / Shutterstock
Many poorer nations have limited or no access to Covid-19 self-testing, which, alongside lack of vaccinations, can lead to increased mortality rates. Credit: Komsan Loonprom / Shutterstock
The organisation is teaming up with ACON Biotech, Osang Healthcare, BioPerfectus and Premier Medical Corporation to manufacture as many as 60 million tests per year in low-to-middle income nations.
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If the project is successful, these nations could get the tests for anything from $1-2 per (€0.90-€1.81) test.
According to the World Bank, to classify as a "low-income" country, GDP per capita must be less than $1,026 (€926), meaning the average person earns less than this amount per year. To qualify as "middle income", GDP per capita must be between $1,026 and $12,353 (€11,149).
As such, even the lower bracket could still be considered relatively expensive in lower-income nations.
The response was set up due to reportedly overburdened healthcare services in many of these countries. Some have also had difficulty accessing vaccines due to perceived hoarding by developed nations, despite schemes designed to increase jab rollout in hard-hit areas such as Africa.
FIND also suggests greater decentralisation and community-based testing models, including in non-traditional settings, such as schools and workplaces, and at border crossings to allow for greater levels of testing and a current lack of affordable tests limiting self-testing.
“Self-testing can uniquely empower people to take control of their health, and has proved an important tool in the pandemic response in the Global North – but multiple barriers to access in LMICs means the Global South is being left behind yet again", FIND's CTO Marta Fernández Suárez said in a statement.
"The packages that these four companies are committing to are a major step towards making self-testing more accessible in LMICs, with volume commitments totalling at least 60 million tests per month and EXW pricing that is half that of current HIV self-tests".
Of over 80 applicants to the programme, four main companies have been selected by a FIND panel all of which have COVID-19 self-tests in the final stages of commercial development. More companies are expected to join the fold in the future.
The investment is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) by way of grants. The World Health Organisation (WHO) is currently drafting up guidance on Covid-19 self-testing and FIND will be supplying data to it to support the development of frameworks and future regulations.
“We are very honoured to cooperate with FIND to bridge the gap between the LMICs and HICs (high-income countries) in COVID-19 self-testing", said Jin Wei, the general manager of JPT's R&D Centre.
"The [programme] means a lot to us and bolsters efforts in future R&D, manufacturing, quality control, sales & marketing of the COVID-19 self-testing kits".
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FIND is set to supplement the grants given to it by offering technical support, and will conduct an independent evaluation of the performance and usability of the tests in the settings of intended use.
"Self-testing is an extremely important tool in long-term healthcare for all individuals, from all backgrounds, and we are extremely happy to help in bringing that vision to life", Premier Medical Corp's CEO Nilesh Mehta said in a statement.
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