MPOX: Moroccan startup first to produce tests in Africa
A Moroccan company has produced the first African mpox tests, hoping to make the continent less dependent on medical imports, according to AP on December 9th.
Moldaig, a Moroccan startup, is now taking orders for mpox tests from affected countries as the outbreak continues across the continent.
Africa’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported more than 59,000 mpox cases and 1,164 deaths this year, with World Health Organisation declaring the virus a global emergency in August.
After African countries struggled to import enough testing kits during the COVID-19 pandemic, officials promised to make the continent more self sufficient.
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Critics say the WHO has been too slow to react to the outbreak, prompting the health agency to announce a plan to distribute tests, vaccines and treatments to vulnerable areas.
However, the pressure on affected nations remains high, with countries like Congo having very few facilities where tests can be imported and processed.
In Congo’s eastern South Kivu province, patients are still diagnosed by taking temperatures and noting visible signs, making it hard to track the virus and understand its transfer mechanisms.
Medical director of one of the few hospitals treating mpox patients in eastern Congo, Musole Robert, said: “This is a major problem. The main issue remains the laboratory, which is not adequately equipped.”
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Moldiag founder and chief scientific officer Abdeladim Moumen said their new tests were an affordable solution to reducing shortages.
Moumen said: “It’s rather easy to send tests from an African nation to another one rather than waiting for tests to come in from China or Europe.”
The company has already began taking pre-orders from African countries including Congo, Uganda and Burundi at $5 per test – a price point recommended by the WHO.
Moumen said local medical equipment producers are better suited to understand the issues of supply and use within their regions, adding the experts are calling for “African tests for Africa.”
Maghrebi cannot verify entirely the integrity of AP reporting in Morocco as the news agency has what appears to be a very close relationship with the government and rarely, if ever, holds it to account on anything.
AP
