AT LAST, NIGERIA WELCOMES A BREAKTHROUGH THAT WILL SAVE MILLIONS OF LIVES!

Africa is a blessed continent rich in natural resources and a vast array of socio-cultural heritage. However, poverty amidst corruption have continued to drag it back in terms of development. Africa's health care system has been challenged by a vast array of disease outbreaks, the worst being the Ebola outbreak last year. However, HIV/AIDS and malaria are also diseases of concern among the highly populated continent and Nigeria in particular.

According to UNICEF, every year, Malaria affects about 300 million to 600 million people around the world and about 580,000 annual deaths due to malaria have been recorded. 90% of this figure is attributed to Sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria accounts for 18% of global infections.

Malaria treatment in Nigeria seems to be poorly executed and this has over the years frustrated the eradication of the disease as well as led to the difficulty in proper management of the disease. The gold standard diagnostic test for malaria has been through blood smears. This has not enjoyed widespread acceptance and practice among community based health facilities. However, the efforts of  Fyodor, a US based biotechnology firm founded by Nigerian Eddy Agbo, has led to the discovery of the Urine Mmalaria Test (UMT) which provides a point-of-need diagnosis of the Plasmodium parasite using dipstick technology just the same way pregnancy test strips work. The urine malaria test is already in some pharmacies in Nigeria. This test can be done within 25minutes prior to initiation of therapy and it does not require special skills in order to perform it. A publication in a malaria journal has upheld the sensitivity of the tests strip and reliability of this technique calling for more improvements however.

The benefit offered by this rapid test kit is that accurate malaria treatment can now be initiated on time especially in rural areas and ultimately reduce deaths due to malaria.

Back here in Nigeria, this great innovation has won the inaugural 2015 Health Innovation Challenge Awards backed by the Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria (PHN). The award comes with a grant of $100,000 and support for PHN from backers including Bill Gates; Africa’s wealthiest man, Aliko Dangote; and former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan.

Sources: Quartz Africa, http://www.malariajournal.com/content/13/1/403