A Moroccan foundation has developed tests to diagnose breast cancer and leukemia, which are set to be commercially ready within months, serving the entire African continent, saving money and reducing waiting times for patients, according to a newspaper.Guardian“.
The newspaper quotes Hassan Sefrioui, a member of the executive board of the Moroccan Foundation for Advanced Science, Innovation and Research (MASciR), which developed the new tests, as saying that “the cost of the tests that are imported from abroad is twice the cost of manufacturing them locally, in addition to waiting for the shipment between weeks and months.”
Most expensive tests and diagnostic tools for cancer and other diseases in Africa are imported from outside the continent, usually from Europe and the United States.
Sefrioui explained that the development of cancer diagnostic tests has been underway since 2010, “and leukemia tests have already been used in Morocco on 400 people.”
Previously, all samples had to be sent to France for analysis, which lengthened the waiting period and delayed the start of treatment, “but with the locally manufactured test kits, we can get the results within hours,” Sefrioui said.
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in Morocco, and it is a major cause of death among women.
While survival rates for early diagnosis remain high globally, a significant proportion of breast cancer cases in low- and middle-income countries, including Morocco, are detected at a later stage, increasing the risk of death.
Africa relies on imported tests, treatments and vaccines, something that has become a pressing concern for health authorities on the continent since the Corona pandemic, with 70 percent of pharmaceutical products imported, and up to 99 percent of vaccines.
During the pandemic, the Moroccan Foundation for Advanced Science, Innovation and Research developed tests for the diagnosis of COVID-19, which were sold in Senegal, Tunisia, Côte d’Ivoire and Rwanda. “Cancer tests might also be available to those countries,” Sefrioui said.