Our Reporter
THE Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN) on Tuesday disclosed that the test kits recently developed by the Nigeria Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) and the Nigeria Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), cannot be deployed to test for COVID-19, as they are yet to be validated.
It further stated that it is working closely with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to ensure that the two World Health Organisation’s (WHO), pre-qualified antigen rapid test kits go through validation as soon as they arrive in the country.
Of the 33 brands of rapid PCR test kits evaluated by the MLSCN, all of them failed to meet the minimum acceptable criteria in terms of sensitivity and specificity. The agency therefore stressed that none of the test kits is recommended for SARS-CoV-2 (covid-19) infection testing in Nigeria.
Speaking in Abuja on the report of the second batch pre-market validation of COVID-19 test kits in Nigeria, the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of MLSCN, Dr. Tosan Erhabor, said: “the two test kits that are on CNN and that have been trending have not been subjected to validation by the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria.
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