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Rabat – Researchers from the MAScIR Foundation have developed a 100% Moroccan made molecular test for tuberculosis screening.
The test called MAScIR TB SS-LAMP “has the advantage of being precise and fast, delivering results in 30 minutes,” a press release from the foundation said on Friday.
The foundation, which is part of the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, said that the Pasteur Institute of Morocco validated the test. It is also registered with the Directorate of the Medicines and Pharmacy under the Ministry of Health and Social Protection.
The test constitutes a solution that facilitates “diagnosis as close as possible to patients at a controlled cost,” the researchers said.
Tuberculosis is one of the public health issues that remain prevalent in Morocco.
Health professionals in Morocco detected more than 29,000 new cases in 2020.
In March 2021, the Ministry of Health announced the launch of an extension of the 2021/2023 National Strategic Plan for the Prevention and Control of Tuberculosis.
The disease, one of the most deadly infectious diseases in the world, kills more than 1.5 million people worldwide, and approximately 3,000 deaths annually in Morocco. Tuberculosis infects the lungs and lays dormant until the person’s immune system is weak, when it develops into active tuberculosis, the second deadliest infectious disease on earth after COVID-19.
Morocco’s incidence of tuberculosis stands at approximately 97 cases per 100,000 people.
