Govt runs short of HIV testing kits
Jan 30, 2005
There are no tiebreakers at hospitals and health centres in the country.
By Frank Mugabi
There are no tiebreakers at hospitals and health centres in the country.
Tiebreakers are high quality and more specific kits used to carry out a third test in instances where two methods of testing for HIV/AIDS give contradictory results.
The head of central public health laboratories in the health ministry, Guma Gaspard, on Saturday said the Government was using Instant Screen as a tiebreaker but its supply was halted mid-last year when a US-based manufacturing firm broke down.
Guma said the country had only one supplier and could not engage another without testing it.
He said it takes between three to six months to complete a test on a suitable tiebreaker for a particular country.
He said the government was examining three tiebreaker candidates at the Uganda Virus Research Institute, the quality control laboratory for HIV testing.
Ends
There are no tiebreakers at hospitals and health centres in the country.
Tiebreakers are high quality and more specific kits used to carry out a third test in instances where two methods of testing for HIV/AIDS give contradictory results.
The head of central public health laboratories in the health ministry, Guma Gaspard, on Saturday said the Government was using Instant Screen as a tiebreaker but its supply was halted mid-last year when a US-based manufacturing firm broke down.
Guma said the country had only one supplier and could not engage another without testing it.
He said it takes between three to six months to complete a test on a suitable tiebreaker for a particular country.
He said the government was examining three tiebreaker candidates at the Uganda Virus Research Institute, the quality control laboratory for HIV testing.
Ends