[afro-nets] Malaria ... about Rapid Diagnosis Kits (2)

["Nana Osei-Bonsu" <oseibonsu@aol.com>]

Hi Peter

I am also missing something from your statement. There is shortage of both nurses and doctors not only in the US but also in Africa. Most of the nurses and doctors trained in Africa now reside and work in Europe/USA for better economic opportunities. The ratio of doctor/nurse to the population is very high. The fact that you have been told that a well trained health worker can handle a large number of blood smears each day does not necessarily translate to cost-efficiency and cost-effectiveness. You may wish to factor into your cost analysis the burden of over-loading these health workers and the burnt-out rate if it continues. Also factor in the bribes that patients must pay to some of these healthcare workers in order to get their lab results in a timely manner because of the inadequate number of trained personnel. The rapid diagnosis kit makes sense especially rural Africa where most of the population resides and again where most of the clinics,/hospitals and healthcare facilities are without doctors and nurses.. Let's not discourage the production and use of these kits.

If there is inappropriate disbursements that is the duty of trained auditors and they bring such people before the law courts. In any case aggressive marketing as you defined it has always been part of new services/technologies. It is not limited to these kits. Otherwise how else will new services/technologies be marketed? Regulatory bodies/NGOs as well as the general public have a duty to monitor this demonstrations and point out the deficiencies

S. Nana Osei-Bonsu
+1 212-361-0668
mailto:oseibonsu@aol.com