Covid tests begins with home made kit
08 February 2023
News Desk :
The process of detection of coronavirus has started with the indigenously developed 'BCSIR-COVID Kit'. Each identification test with this kit will cost only Tk 250.
The kit was formally inaugurated at a function organized on Tuesday afternoon in the conference hall of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU). BSMMU Vice-Chancellor (VC) Prof. Dr. Md. Sharfuddin Ahmed was the chief guest.
This kit has been developed under the leadership of the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) in collaboration with Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) and Dhaka University (DU).
Presided over by BCSIR chairman Prof. Dr. Aftab
Ali, BSMMU treasurer Prof. Dr. Mohammad Atiqur Rahman, Chairman of the Department of Virology Dr. Afzalun Necha, and DU's Microbiology Department Professor Dr. Chowdhury Rafiqul Ahsan were present as the special guest.
BSMMU VC Prof. Dr. Md. Sharfuddin Ahmed said that "the minimum detection capacity of this kit is 100 copies of virus/ml". Whereas other importers have a minimum detection capacity of kits of 1000 virus copies/ml. "This means that even the smallest virus can be detected by this kit. As a result, it will be possible to know the presence of the virus before the symptoms of the disease appear," he also said.
He added that the RTPCR test is considered the "gold standard" in COVID detection. But such kits are very expensive, each test costing approximately Tk 3,000-Tk 3,500. However, the kit invented by BCSIR allows testing at a very low cost. Each identification test will cost only Tk 250 rupees.
BSMMU VC said that the 'BCSIR-COVID Kit' is a simple, quick, and cost-effective method for the detection of Covid-19. If the various government and private institutions involved in the pharmaceutical industry of the country go to the production of this kit quickly, the people of the country will benefit besides saving foreign exchange. BCSIR scientists are always ready to provide technical assistance in this regard.
