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News/Event Item
PEPFAR Funding 396,000 More of Chembio’s HIV Tests for Nigeria
Sept. 12, 2006
Chembio Diagnostics, Inc. Press Release
N.Y. – Chembio Diagnostics, Inc. (OTCBB:CEMI) has received a new order for 396,000 HIV 1/2 STAT-PAKTM rapid tests. The Company plans to ship these tests, which will be used for voluntary counseling and testing programs in Nigeria, in September and October, 2006. The United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a five year $15 billion global initiative to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic, is funding the purchase order which was placed by the United States Centers for Disease Control. Chembio has received in the last five months orders for more than 700,000 tests funded by PEPFAR for Nigeria. Chembio believes that this is continued evidence of the commitment by Nigerian public health officials, working with PEPFAR and other stakeholders, to their treatment targets, and their knowledge that rapid HIV tests play a crucial role in meeting these targets.
With an estimated 135 million residents, Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country. Approximately 3.6 million Nigerians are believed to be HIV-infected. Only a small percentage are aware of their status, with only 28,500 currently receiving anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment, according to a recent report to Congress by PEPFAR. PEPFAR’s goal is for 350,000 Nigerians to receive anti-retroviral treatment by 2008, which the Company believes will require rapid tests several times that figure in order to identify those eligible for treatment. In addition to the PEPFAR targets, the Nigerian National Action Committee on AIDS (NACA) is aiming to put 250,000 additional people on anti- retroviral viral treatment as soon as possible. Because rapid HIV tests allow patients to be screened, confirmed at the point of care, and referred for treatment where appropriate, the rapid tests are expected to help Nigeria meet its treatment goals.
The Nigerian Ministry of Health has designated Chembio’s HIV 1/2 STAT-PAKTM as a screening test to be used in four out of the eight testing protocols that comprise Nigeria’s Interim National Testing Algorithm. Nigeria is initially implementing a “parallel testing algorithm” that uses two screening tests from different manufacturers on each patient tested.
For More Information
http://www.chembio.com/
category: Member Organization News : Announcements
contributed by Andrea Welch on 12 September 2006
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