Medical Services International (MSI), a Canadian firm, has started shipping its VScan tuberculosis (TB) rapid-test kits to Africa, where the pulmonary disease is a leading cause of death among HIV-positive people.
MSI already supplies parts of the continent with its VScan HIV rapid-test kits, and it was recently awarded a US $25 million tender by Nigeria for these kits.
The firm said it planned to bring its new VScan HIV/TB rapid-test kit, which uses a single kit to simultaneously detect HIV and TB, to the global market.
MSI said in a statement: "This kit will have a significant impact on the market in both detection and treatments. Early detection of TB can speed treatment of HIV/AIDS by prompting patients to seek medical help early enough for the life-prolonging antiretroviral drugs to work - the solution to stop this TB/HIV/AIDS emergency is to treat both diseases together."
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