Test kits are unaffordable for developing countries, NGOs say
Two medical charities—Médecins Sans Frontières and the Treatment Action Group—have criticised the high price of diagnostic tests for SARS-Cov-2, the virus responsible for the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic.
On 27 March, TAG accused American molecular diagnostics company Cepheid of “profiteering” with its recently approved, rapid SARS-Cov-2 test. The company is selling the cartridge-based test, which runs on machines used to test for HIV and tuberculosis, for US$20 for developing nations. TAG says this is six times the cost of manufacture.
“[This is] well out of the reach of low- and middle income-countries, where scaling up testing could have a significant impact on stemming the tide of the pandemic, and lowering its death toll,” said TAG in a statement.
TAG wants Cepheid to immediately lower the price low- and middle-income countries pay for the test to US$5.
On the same day, MSF called on governments to ignore patents related to any potential Covid-19 treatment or test. It accused pharmaceutical companies of contributing to the pandemic by prioritising profit over public health.
MSF lashed out against Gilead, a United States pharmaceutical company, that has patented a potential Covid-19 treatment in 70 countries. MSF called the patenting “outrageous” as public funding was used to research the treatment.
The charity, which provides medical care to poor and vulnerable people worldwide, criticised Cepheid’s diagnostic test, and echoed TAG’s sentiment that the test should be sold for US$5 to poor countries.
“We now know how critical testing is in this pandemic, so the tests need to be affordable for all,” said Stijn Deborggraeve, diagnostics advisor at MSF, in a statement.
Research Africa contacted both Cepheid and Gilead to respond to the allegations by MSF and TAG. Neither companies responded by the time of publication.