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User-friendly rapid malaria test launched in SA

(Photo: Supplied by Atomo)
(Photo: Supplied by Atomo)
Award winning Australian healthcare company, Atomo Diagnostics will introduce its innovative malaria testing kit at the 6th MIM Pan-African malaria conference held in Durban.

The congress runs until 11 October.

AtomoRapid™ Malaria, which is ideal for both professional and self-test applications, will enable quick and reliable diagnosis of malaria in the field.

Rapid testing away from hospitals and clinics is recognised as an increasingly important weapon in the fight to bring infectious diseases under control in Africa.

The Global Fund said 90% of the 655 000 malaria deaths worldwide occurred in Africa.

Major errors

A large scale study in Sudan revealed major user errors when using complicated malaria test kits. Through collaborative commercialisation, Atomo has ensured that these common errors are reduced through the integration of blood collection and delivery features into the test cassette.

John Kelly, the CEO & founder of Atomo Diagnostics said: “Malaria is as much of a threat to the wellbeing of Africans as HIV and we wanted to ensure that we were also able to utilise the next-generation AtomoRapid™ solution to aid in the fight against malaria”.

There is a serious need in Africa for reliable, rapid diagnostic tests that are easy to use in the field, especially in remote settings. A resistance to artemisimin – a key component of drugs used to treat malaria – is on the increase due to ‘blanket’ treatment programmes if the patient is suspected of having malaria. AtomoRapid™ Malaria aims to alleviate this issue by providing the healthcare worker with an easy to use and reliable diagnostic test to help make the decision on the course of treatment for the patient.

Competitive price

AtomoRapid™ Malaria will be manufactured in South Africa with production taking place at a new ISO 13485 certified facility. This makes it not only the world’s most user friendly rapid malaria test, but an African made test that can be exported to the benefit of the rest of the world.

The company also recently launched the innovative all in one rapid HIV test AtomoRapid™ HIV.

Kelly, who will present the malaria test at the Durban conference, said: "The Atomo team has been working hard towards making AtomoRapid™ HIV and AtomoRapid™ Malaria available to the market at a competitive price and the response we have received so far has been fantastic – we now look forward to collaborating with leading organisations to change the rapid testing landscape."

For more information on AtomoRapid™ Malaria or HIV please contact:  info@atomodiagnostics.com and www.atomodiagnostics.com



 
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