2nd June, 2020
By Kemi Akintokun
The Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Yaba, Lagos, in partnership with the Mobihealth on Tuesday launched the first home Teleconsultation COVID-19 self-swab test in the country.
Prof. Babtunde Salako, Director-General of NIMR, said the ‘do it yourself swab testing’ would help to increase the number of testing.
“Today, NIMR and Mobihealth launched a do it yourself swab sampling to expand coverage and the number of test per day via telemedicine approach run by Mobihealth,” Salako tweeted.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalled that NIMR had earlier in a statement said the partnership would help to pilot research into the efficacy of developing telemedicine guided COVID-19 home self-swab test sample collection.
It said the programme would involve 2,000 sample collection over a period, while individuals will be guided on how to conduct a self-swab test sample collection.
The institute added that the objective is to collect rapidly and safely in order to test large samples of people for the virus.
The statement said the system will limit face to face testing and reduce the spread of infection, especially among health workers.
Mobihealth, in partnership with medical logistics firms and Lifebank, will facilitate the contactless smooth delivery and collection of self-swab test to the subject home.
Mobihealth is an international innovative telemedicine and digital healthcare platform with a mission to provide everyone on the planet timely access to quality healthcare services from around the world.
The institute started a drive through testing of COVID-19 on March 30, in strong partnership with Lifebank, led by Temie Giwa-Tubosun.
NIMR was established in 1977 to conduct research on diseases of public health importance in Nigeria.