A team of experts from Makerere University headed by Dr. Misaki Wanyengera has developed a rapid testing kit for Coronavirus in Uganda.
The university Vice Chancellor Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe announced the development on Twitter.
“I thank Dr. Misaki Wayengera and his team at the Makerere University Department of Pathology for the initiative to develop a rapid testing kit for Coronavirus. This is commendable given the devastation caused by COVID19. Makerere is proud to serve humanity,” Mr Nawangwe tweeted.
Dr Misaki Wayengera is also the man behind the ground-breaking Pan- Filovirus Rapid Diagnostic Test, a paper-strip test, similar to the one used in pregnancy, to detect Ebola and Marburg viruses.
Makerere’s invention comes at a time Uganda government is on high alert over fake COVID-19 testing kits from China which hit the world market in the recent past.
In Europe, Spain was prompted to recall 58000 kits which had been procured from a Chinese firm because their accuracy was poor at 30%.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni while addressing the nation last week said Uganda couldn’t test every citizen because the process was costly.
He said it takes $60 to test every single Ugandan, an equivalent of shs 230000.
The current testing kits in Uganda are slow and expensive and every country’s desire is to have a speedy kit at a very low cost which prompted Makerere University to step in.
Further, Mr Nawangwe also informed Uganda that a team from Makarere University School of Public Health in conjunction with Kiira Motors had also manufactured a low cost ventilator through COVID-19 research project Resilient Africa Network.
A Ventilator is commonly known as a breathing machine or a respirator which supports human body organs when the person is unable to breath.
The strain of COVID-19 viruses attacks the respiratory system and weakens the human lungs making it difficult for a patient to breathe normally.
This is why most COVID-19 patients are admitted to ICU and put on respirators.
Makerere’s recent innovation further justifies why the institution is ranked the 5th best in Africa.
