Dutch grant contributes to development of POC tests
In November of 2006, the Dutch Ministry
of Foreign Affairs awarded FIND a
7.9 million Euro grant to help accelerate its
work in developing improved point-of-care
(POC) diagnostic tests for tuberculosis, HIV
and malaria. Existing programs using molecular
platforms include chemical sensor arrays for
detecting volatile compounds in sputum, a lateral
flow assay for diagnosing Mycobacterium
tuberculosis antigens, and a simple nucleic
acid amplification test for detecting M.tb in
urine. Other diagnostic tests being investigated
comprise an improved lateral flow assay
for identifying malaria in a finger prick blood
sample, a simple nucleic acid amplification test
for detecting malaria parasites in blood, and a
hands-free automated nucleic acid amplification
test (NAAT) for measuring HIV viral
load in blood. With part of the Dutch grant,
FIND will also finance a project on laboratory
strengthening which is being launched in
Uganda in the first quarter of 2007.
|
