World Health Organization (WHO) donates four ‘GeneXpert’ Tuberculosis (TB) screening machine to the Ministry of Health on Wednesday.
The machines were handed over by WHO Maldives’ Representative Dr Arvind Mathur and accepted by Minister of Health Abdulla Ameen during a special ceremony held at the Health Ministry.
The GeneXpert developed in the United States by ‘Cepheid’ and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), is a small machine which identifies TB on a molecular level. In addition, to increase in efficiency in diagnostics, the machine also runs tests for resistance to Rifampicin, an antibiotic used to treat TB.
According to the Health Protection Agency, the machines will further expand the diagnosis of TB across the country.
