The University of Lagos (UNILAG) has invented a new method of diagnosing malaria, following intensive research by its Department of Medical Micro Biology and Parasitology. The Director of Research and Innovation of the institution, Prof. Wellington Oyibo, broke the news yesterday to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Oyibo, a lecturer in the department, said the university’s research on malaria testing without the use of blood was validated in 2016. He noted that by this feat, the institution was fast becoming a clinical trial site for diagnosis.
According to him, the institution has provided a platform and an enabling environment for researchers who have been providing solutions to life challenges.
The Professor of Medical Parasitology noted that having worked in the malaria space, he discovered that malaria was a major health challenge in the country. He said: “One of the major challenges in managing the menace has to do with case management: there are assumptions that all fevers are malaria. This leads to excessive diagnosis and overtreatment.”
Oyibo recalled that the policy that malaria test should be done before treatment was approved since 2010. According to him, “in spite of this policy, people are still not doing tests”. He said: “So, one way by which we can encourage diagnosis is by introducing tests that will not require blood from patients.
“Under the new test formula, medicine retailers will be able to carry out diagnosis before dispensing drugs.
“If we keep selling drugs for a disease that does not exist, it will amount to a waste of resources and patients will be suffering.”
The lecturer said the research was conducted in collaboration with a group of researchers in Baltimore, the United States of America (U.S.A). The lecturer said the outcome was to diagnose malaria by using urine. He noted that “the first urine malaria test” had been validated. Oyibo said the urine malaria test was the first clinical and global trial to be done in the world.
The varsity teacher said the test had been registered by both the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration Control (NAFDAC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). He noted that the development was remarkable and ground-breaking, considering the fact that one could carry out malaria test without taking blood.
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