Posted on: Fri 10-04-2020

The Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN), in line with its mandate as stipulated in Act 11 of 2003 section 4 sub-section (e), which states that the Council shall regulate the production, importation, sales and stocking of diagnostic laboratory reagents and chemicals, wishes to inform the general public that it has come to the notice of the Council that some COVID-19 test kits are being sold and utilized for screening for COVID-19 viral infection without appropriate validation of these kits to ensure their sensitivity and specificity.

The council has not validated or approved any COVID-19 Rapid Test Kit (RTK) for use as at date.

However, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and the high cost of confirmatory tests with PCR, it has become necessary that provisions are made to widely screen people in order to ascertain disease burden and provide timely reports at a lower cost. Positive cases from rapid test kits could then be transferred for confirmatory testing. This will reduce fear, panic and minimize waste.

The Council, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Council (NCDC), is ready to start the validation of Rapid Test Kits (RTK) that have been imported for the screening for COVID-19.

All importers and dealers of laboratory diagnostic kits especially COVID-19 RTK, are hereby advised to submit same to the Headquarters of the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN) at plot 1166 Mohammed Umar Lane, Durumi District, Abuja.

Approved list of validated RTKs will be communicated to end-users in due course.

The public is advised to wash hands with soap and water, use sanitisers regularly, maintain social distance as much as possible and avoid crowded places.

The council is committed to providing accurate and reliable laboratory reports to Nigerians, as we join hands in fighting this pandemic.

Signed:

Dr. TOSAN ERHABOR

Registrar/CEO

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