South Africa: Rapid HIV tests not infallible

JOHANNESBURG, 6 October 2008 (PlusNews) - A local newspaper reported on 28 September that more than half a million Wondfo Rapid One Step Test kits, manufactured in China and supplied by FutureMed Pharmaceuticals, were withdrawn in late July after they were found to be defective.

The development of rapid HIV tests, which provide results in less than 30 minutes and can be carried out with minimal equipment or training, has greatly increased both the accessibility of testing and the numbers of people tested.
Miriam Mhazo, a senior programme manager at New Start, a non-profit organisation that provides voluntary HIV counselling and testing (VCT) services throughout the country, told IRIN/PlusNews that before her organisation starting using rapid tests in 2004, clients had to wait eight days to receive their results, and "about 30 percent wouldn't come back."

But several recent studies have uncovered problems with the performance of certain brands of rapid test kits, and with the level of user error in busy public health facilities where they are used.

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