Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria

Purpose

Canadian funding through this project will enable the Global Fund to procure and deliver about 6,329,000 antigen rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs) to low-income and lower middle-income countries (LICs & LMIICs), at the current price of US$2.50 per test. Of this amount, 75% would go to most severely-affected countries in Africa, and most of the remainder going to the hardest-hit countries in Asia. These tests represent a significant improvement over lab-based or automated polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which are being used in a number of countries. Compared with PCR tests, which can be expensive and take longer to provide results, these RDTs are low-cost and can provide results in 15 minutes. Improving access to testing is essential for controlling the spread of COVID-19 through enabling targeted public health measures and use of therapeutics and vaccines as they become available and delivered.